Total Rewind Island
by insertnamehere21
Summary: 8 years after the events of Total Drama Island, the 22 original contestants are mysteriously sent back in time to the first episode. With all this foresight, things change. A lot. Told from multiple POV's
1. Episode 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Total Drama. Also, I am a figure with my own thoughts and feelings. You know all about it if you've read this author's other stuff**

 **Hello, it's insertnamehere21 (AKA Niall) and I am starting a brand new Total Drama fanfic.**

 **Over the years, I've seen many fics where one contestant is sent back in time for a second chance. But one day, about two years ago, I thought 'What if every contestant was sent back at the same time? How would things change?' I ended up shelving the idea for a while, but I found myself coming back to it recently**

 **Hope you all like it ;)**

* * *

 **Beth's POV –**

They say you only live once. Well, whoever 'they' are, they clearly don't know about what can really happen in life. This has been a realization for me.

8 years ago, when I was sixteen, I was chosen to be part of the cast for an upcoming reality show in my country – Total Drama Island.

Oh, how naïve I was back then. I actually believed I was in the finals of some swank talent show, when in hindsight, it should have been obvious. Just look at the audition tape I sent!

I did okay that time, but I came back in season 2 and almost won. I definitely felt very accomplished.

I was never asked to come back to the show again, and that was fine with me. I no longer had interest in reality television – I had other plans.

I went back to my family farm for a bit, then I left to go to university and got a degree in computer sciences, and went on to get a job as a secretary in a hotel.

It's not the most interesting of lives, but I get by fine.

You can imagine my frustration when I woke up this morning to find myself back in my old bedroom, my plump adolescent body, to my dad yelling – "Beth, the limo is here! Get downstairs!"

After all the work I did to make something of my life, I'm back to square one. Back on that crummy reality TV show.

I suppose I can make the best of it, but, ugh, the memories I have attached to this show aren't always good. I was so cringey as a teenager...

"Beth. what's up?" the host, Chris McLean calls out. I stand still at the edge of the dock.

"Beth? Are you going to come over?" Chris asks, before sighing. "It's a half-hour show."

"Oh…right…me," I say awkwardly, walking over. You can't blame me though. Nobody has called me 'Beth' in years. These days I go by 'Lisa'. They're both short for my Christian name, Elizabeth.

"Hi. It'th…um…great to be thith thow," I state, giving a polite wave to the camera. Ugh, I hate the way I sound with that metal death-trap surrounding my teeth. With that, I walk off.

 **DJ's POV**

Well, something very unexpected just happened.

I had just gotten back home from a long shift at the five-star hotel I work at, and I collapsed on the sofa in exhaustion.

When I woke up the next day, I found myself waking up in my bed back home.

I came downstairs for breakfast when my mama asked me if I was excited to be going on Total Drama today. Wait, what?

It seemed that I had gone back in time. To the day when I stepped on Camp Wawanakwa. I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming – I wasn't.

Well, I'm back now. With a second-chance at the million. Maybe this time I'll bring the million home, so mama and I can go back to Jamaica…

"DJ!" Chris greets. Oh, the respect I had for him before going on this show. Still – if I'm going to be inconspicuous, I better do what I did the first time…

"Yo, Chris, what's up?" I greet back, exchanging a fist bump. "Wow, this place…is it the right one?"

"Yo dawg, this is it. Camp Wawanakwa," Chris replies.

"This was not on the application form," I sigh as I walk off with my luggage. Okay, that probably wasn't exactly what I said last time, but it's been eight years. Give me a break.

I notice Beth standing at the other end of the dock. She looks a lot like someone else I know…that's when I remember! She's Lisa – the secretary who works at the same hotel as me.

How did I not realize they were the same person?

 **Gwen's POV –**

This is new. Oh well.

It's not like my actual life is any good. Despite being on that stupid show for no less than 4 seasons, I never won. Not once. I never even got any opportunities out of the show.

All I've done is blow $35,000 on four years of art college, and get nothing in return.

Oh well, things should be different. 4 seasons has given me a lot of experience with these people. I should know my way round.

"Hey, Gwen," Chris greets me. I walk past him, not saying a word. What should I say to that sociopath?

 **Geoff's POV –**

Oh come on, really? I'm waking up back here? After I worked my ass off with my bro, Brody, to win the million, I'm back where I started!?

And I know what will happen now. Bridgette will be trying to woo me like last time. I don't think I ever want to see that bitch again!

She had the nerve to dump me, despite all the money I had. Said I was too 'materialismist' or something.

The universe hates me.

"Geoffster, welcome to the island, man!" Chris welcomes me as I jump onto the dock.

"Oh…hey…thanks," I say, mustering a fake smile.

I look at the other three who have already arrived, and they seem to be giving me weird looks. Eh, whatever.

 **Lindsay's POV –**

I'm, like, so confusled at the moment. For the first time in about a year, I woke up alone in bed. In the same house as my parents. I hadn't seen them in a year either.

Where's my apartment in Vancouver? What am I doing in my old house? How am I in my sixteen year old body?

I think I've gone back in the past or something. Next thing I know, I'm on some dock. What is going on?

"Everybody, this is Lindsay!" an old man says, and then he says something else that I didn't hear.

"Hi," I reply. "You look so familiar."

"I'm Chris McLean," the old man replies. "The host of the show."

"Oh, that's where I know you from. You're the guy who flushed me down the toilet!" I shout.

Oh my gosh! I'm back on Total Drama Island! I did go back to the past! Wait a minute…this means I can smart-out Heather!

 **Heather's POV –**

Ugh, I can't believe I have to face all these losers again. Weird goth girl, wannabe, the pussy brickhouse, and Lindsiot!

I am all for another chance at the 100 grand, but, ugh, so many years of my life were wasted with these losers! Competing in reality shows that I never won, and when I came close in World Tour, it turned out to be a waste of time anyway.

Oh well, this time I should have the upper hand – unlike the others, I know ahead of time what is going to happen…

"Heather," Chris states as he walk onto the dock. As I join the others, nobody seems to want to look at me.

Wait a minute, didn't Beth come up to me? Yeah, she said something and started spitting in my face. It was disgusting. Now she's just standing at the other end of the dock with her arms folded. Weird.

 **Duncan's POV –**

I have seen hell. No, really. Nothing could prepare me for how awful adult prisons are.

Juvie was pretty awful too, but at least I was up against people of my own age. I could handle them no problem.

But in regular prison? There are men three times my size in that shit-hole! And they had no problem getting me under their control.

You know that joke about dropping soap in the shower? Not a joke.

I know what I have to do now. Re-evaluate my life. Where the heck did being a delinquent get me? Popularity, maybe – but also missed job opportunities, bad grades, a shit relationship with my parents, two ex-girlfriends who hate me, and…ugh.

I better not blow this second chance. Must resist any temptations…

"Duncan, dude," Chris greets me.

"What's up?" I reply in a cool fashion, before joining the others. I notice Heather gives me a weird look – like she expects me to do something.

 **Heather's POV –**

What the f**k? Duncan made moves on me last time! He did nothing! Maybe he flirted with me at a different point…

Eh, it's been years since this originally happened, and I never watched the re-runs. Still, I can't but feel something is up…

 **Tyler's POV –**

"Ladies and gentleman, Tyler!" Chris announces as I stand on the edge of the boat, dressed in my one-piece red tracksuit. It feels so weird to be back in these duds – I'm more of a jeans and t-shirt dude these days.

And no, I'm not water-skiing this time. Why would I be that daft? I sure was a dumbass teenager. Time sure gave me a taste of my own medicine…

I tried out for many professional sports clubs over the years, and predictably failed to come even close to making one. These days I pay the bills by working at a demolition company – it could be worse.

As I walk onto the dock, I flash a smile at Lindsay, who giggles back. That poor girl – she did not deserve the fate she got. She dropped out of three different universities, and her parents eventually cut her off.

It was up to her to make her own living, and she couldn't even get an interview. She ended up being forced into prostitution.

The worst part is that she was very successful – a client would always be waiting outside of our apartment when I got home from work.

And, yes, we were still dating as this was happening. It was uncomfortable at first, but I got used to it. I was comforted by the fact that I got in free, pervy as it may sound.

It still isn't fair on the poor girl. If I win, it will go straight to her. For her future.

 **Harold's POV –**

F**k my life. I could not be more grateful for being given this second chance – my 24 year old life sucks.

Despite my geeky nature, I am not the most intelligent of people. I'm not book-smart like Noah or a technology-whiz like Cody. So it was difficult to obtain a scholarship to attend a good university. By age twenty-two, I was stuck with a job working at some shitty old gas station, while still living in my parents' basement. It's made for a very depressive life.

I better make the end-game. I am following my dreams, and with foresight of everything to come, it shouldn't be as difficult of a ride.

"Welcome to camp, Harold," Chris greets me as I arrive on the dock.

"Er…hey. This is awesome," I reply monotonously, before walking off. I notice Chris shudder a few seconds later. Am I really that off-putting? Gosh!

 **Trent's POV –**

"Contestant number nine is…Trent!" Chris announces as I walk over, carrying my guitar and backpack.

It's no coincidence that nine is my lucky number. This summer was a lucky one for me indeed. Why did everything have to turn to crap on the film lot?

Oh, the respect I had for Chris when I landed on that. How it slowly faded away…

This show started just as Chris' career was starting to dwindle – he had been a very prolific personality back then. After TDI all of it faded away.

"Hey," I greeted, before walking straight past him.

I then settled in my original spot next to Gwen, and flashed a smile. I looked at her, and she gave me this weird cheesy smile, before looking away.

 **Bridgette's POV –**

So…I've, apparently gone back in time to Total Drama Island. Erm…okay…after three seasons on Total Drama, I've come to expect the unexpected.

"Hey, what's up?" I greet Chris.

"Our surfer chick, Bridgette, is here!" Chris announces. "Alright, that makes…"

I bend over to pick up my suitcase, and hit Chris hard on the head with my board. And I did it on purpose this time – after all he's done, it's the least I can do.

"Ow, darn it, that hurt," he groans as he rubs his head.

I notice Geoff nearby on the dock. It is amazing how money can completely change someone's personality. The chill party dude I once knew is now some materialistic, stuck-up brat! I dumped him, of course, but he didn't seem to care. Turned out him and Brody would rather have five girlfriends between them.

"Hi, I'm Beth," Beth greets me from the other side of the dock.

"Hey," I reply, purposely swinging my board so it hits Geoff and he falls into the water.

"Ouch!" he groans as he picks himself up.

"Oops, sorry," I 'apologize'.

"Okay, we've all met surfer girl. Can we get on with the show please?" Heather asks angrily.

 **Noah's POV –**

Oh, what a wonderful year it has been. After years of pre-mature relationships, and waking up to find girls have left my bed, I now have a committed relationship with Emma.

She really is my type. We spend every minute outside of school together – it's not like either of us have other friends, and we are so pleasing of each other.

Too bad a reset button or something has taken that all away from me. Look where I am now, back on that s***ty reality TV show. I'll take a girl over some money thank you very much.

Though money doesn't sound bad at all. I did wonder what it would be like – to have a second chance on my own. And foresight of what is to come is a nice bonus.

"Our next camper is…Noah!" Chris announces.

I'm not even going to bother asking about the allergies. It certainly didn't help the first time.

"This is where we're staying, I see," I note as I walk across the dock, and put my hands on my hips. "False advertising is a criminal offence, I may point out."

"The applications had a stock image – nothing illegal about that," Chris frowns as he shrugs his shoulders.

"Whatever," I sigh as I join the others.

 **Leshawna's POV**

Oh, am I relieved? Waking up in my parents apartment in my sixteen year old body? That only means one thing – no more having to work at those stupid department stores!

Seriously, in my adult life, I was working as sales assistants at three different stores – it's the only way I could adequately pay the bills.

Oh, and I'm also on my way back to the island, which is a nice bonus. 100,000 dollars could really change my life, especially in my financial position.

Still, even knowing the future, is there really much I can do to save myself? I won't be at the Playa to stop everyone from saying my name. Maybe I could try and prevent Katie and Sadie from getting eliminated? Hmm…

"What's up, ya'll, Leshawna's in the house!" I announce as I arrived at the dock. "Yo, baby, hey, how's it going?" I greet Chris.

"You may as well quit now, 'cause I came to win," I stated as I walk along the dock. Okay, I didn't remember all of my lines right, but it's not like it really matters.

"Hi, I'm Harold," Harold greets me nervously as he stands in front of me.

"Er…hey, how you doin'?" I reply awkwardly. "Can you get outta the way?"

"Oh…er…of course. Ladies first," Harold replies before he steps aside.

That was really weird. Didn't he insult me last time? I guess you can't expect everything to be the same…

 **Katie's POV –**

Sadie smiles at me as we stand on the edge of the boat together. Oh, how time seems to alter everything.

We used to be such good friends back in the day. All the way through elementary, high school and college, we'd do everything together.

But then I'm offered this job as a fashion designer in South Korea, and I just had to go. Build myself a future at a job that I love, and try some authentic Asian food.

But Sadie was having none of it. She was all like, 'Ooh, Katie, we had a plan. We were going to get through our lives together. You can't leave'

And I was all like, 'Sadie, it's not my fault that you suck at fashion design'

And there was screaming, and pulling of hair, and it wasn't long before we both got knocked out.

When I woke up, I was alone in my room in my parents' house, and looked like I was sixteen again.

So, somehow I've gone back to the day when we arrived on Camp Wawanakwa. Good – I can ensure that I will never have to take that job. If I win the money, I can set up my own business, and Sadie and I can still be friends. It's an excellent plan.

 **Sadie's POV –**

That bitch – I can't even look at her right now. We were going to have lives together, but no, she had to get that stupid job on Korea.

I'm happy that she's able to have a future, but we pinky swore that we'd spend the rest of our lives together (along with super-hot husbands of course).

Well, we didn't pinky swear on it until halfway through Total Drama Action, so if I win the 100,000 this time round, she isn't getting a single cent.

"Ladies, Sadie, Katie, welcome to your new home for eight weeks," Chris announces to us.

"Oh my gosh!" Katie exclaims. "Sadie, look, it's a summer-camp."

"Like…oh my gosh," I say as excitably as I can. "I love, love, love summercamp! Eeeeiii!"

We both pick up our suitcases and run off.

Jesus, were we really that annoying as teenagers?

 **Ezekiel's POV –**

Back home, my folks always taught me to forgive and forget, but how can I possibly forgive Chris and Fresh TV for everything they've done to me? It's unforgivable! What sane person leaves a feral guy stuck on an island for…I can't even remember how many years I was stuck there.

My parents tried to get me home too, and what did Fresh TV do? They sabotaged them by shooting holes in their boats. It was hopeless – I was set to be stuck as a feral being for the rest of my life…

All because I made one comment about how boys are better than girls! I had a very sheltered childhood – it wasn't my fault!

I feel very blessed that I've gone back in time now – not for the money, I don't care about that; it's a chance to go back home. Once I'm out of here, I never want to leave the farm ever again!

"Ezekiel," Chris greets me. "What's up, man?"

'What's up?' – doesn't that mean 'how are you' or something?

I look around in confusion before saying, "I'm fine, thank you for asking."

"Erm…that's great, dude," Chris replies, raising an eyebrow as I march off.

 **Cody's POV –**

Seriously? After all that work I put into getting a successfully career in engineering, and getting a toned body, I'm back here?

Ah, well, I'm not one to turn down the 100 grand. I'll make what I can of it.

As I arrive on the dock, Chris greets me with, "Cody, the Codester, the Codemeister!"

"Um…just Cody is enough," I reply, rolling my eyes, before walking off slowly. I notice the others start giving me weird looks. Eh, they probably did the same thing the first time I arrived on the dock. Back then, my ego was like a tumor.

 **Eva's POV –**

Finally! It's about time I got another chance to win! I still can't believe I was never picked for Action or World Tour – those selections were rigged!

Okay, Eva, calm yourself – your bad temper never got you anywhere. Well, besides kicked out of college, forced to take up yoga, and eventually put into a mental hospital.

I had to share a ward with Izzy! DO YOU KNOW TRAUMATIC THAT WAS!?

"Eva, nice, glad you could make it," Chris greets me as I walk across the dock.

I set my suitcase down on the dock and stand silently. It's best if I just don't say anything.

 **Owen's POV –**

Yes! I'm back on the island! Now I can relieve the best summer of my life! Awesome! Well – almost – I didn't actually win the money.

But this time I won't make that mistake. It shouldn't be that hard – I'll just do what I did last time. It will be a piece of cake…mmm…piece of cake.

"Woo-hoo!" I cheer loudly as I arrive on the dock. "Chris, what's happenin'?"

I then let out a creepy chuckle – but it doesn't quite come out as well as the first time. Um…okay…so what did I do next? I need to be right on point if I want to get to the end again…

Oh yes…

"This is awesome! Woo-hoo!" I cheer.

"Owen!" Chris exclaims. "Welcome!"

I give him a tight hug which seems to crack some of his bones, and then I continue, "Awesome to be here, man! Yeah! Man, this is just so…"

I continue to hug Chris as I wait for Gwen to say her line. What? Why isn't she saying it?

"Awesome," she eventually sighs.

"Yes! Awesome! Woo!" I continue. "Are you gonna be on my team?"

"Oh, I sure hope so," she continues in a weirdly monotonous voice.

"Woooo!" I howl.

"Are you about finished?" Chris asks angrily.

"Sorry, dude, I'm just so…er…excited…I mean pscyhed! That's it!" I cheer.

Okay, I screwed up a bit at the end, but hopefully it doesn't matter.

 **Courtney's POV –**

"And here comes Courtney!" Chris announces as I give a polite wave from my boat.

Ugh, I still can't believe how unfairly I was eliminated off this island. I suppose in hindsight, I could see why Harold was angry, but still…it was at my expense.

Other than that, I feel relatively calm. It's nice to be here – my life was simpler back then – at least by comparison.

Spending months upon months as a top-notch lawyer is rewarding in payment, but not so rewarding in how it raises blood pressure.

Why did I ever want a high-paying job where you didn't even have time to enjoy the money?

I just need to make sure I don't fall for Duncan again – just thinking about him makes me feel like exploding. If I could, I'd put a rope around his neck. His soft, smooth…

"Thank you," I say as Chris helps me onto the dock.

"Hi, you must be the other contestants. It's very nice to meet you all," I smile.

"How's it goin', I'm Owen," Owen greets me as he shakes my head.

"It's nice to meet you, Owen," I reply, before looking behind me and noticing Justin arrive. "Wow!"

Hmm…I must have arrived on the dock a couple of seconds earlier…that wasn't timed the same way.

 **Justin's POV –**

As I arrive on the dock, I notice the awe on the faces of the many girls on the island (and Owen).

Too bad it just wouldn't last. It turns out I have a genetic condition which makes my hair go grey and my face go all wrinkly at the age of 23!

All of my beauty, modelling contracts, stacks of cash, gone! I had to work in a…regular job.

For the last year I've been stuck in some smelly old factory making ceramic ornaments. F*** every single second of it! I'm meant to be living the dream!

"This is Justin!" Chris announces as I stand next to him. "Welcome to Total Drama Island."

"Thanks," I reply simply.

"Just so you know, we picked you based entirely on your looks," Chris told me.

Right, because I have no qualities. I have my…my…er…

"I can deal with that," I say out loud, before walking off.

Just like the first time, Owen asks me awkward questions about my ripped jeans. I'm still pretty surprised that he didn't turn to be gay…well, maybe he's bi…but I guess I'll never know…

 **Izzy's POV –**

Woo! Back on the island! What a lucky break. I still can't believe what those f***'s did to me.

I was just minding my business, earning my daily bread as an ice-cream van driver, when…Justin Bieber happened to crossing the road.

Oh how I despise that piece of crap! Making me temporarily deaf with his songs! I knew I would not let him live another second! I tried to run him over, but he noticed and quickly ran into a field on the other side of the road.

I turned the wheel and chased him through the field, but it was difficult to go very quickly in the bumpy field. Eventually that little s**t managed to call the police and have me arrested, and I ended up in a mental hospital!

Even having my gal pal, Eva, by my side didn't help matters! NO! I WILL NOT FORGIVE! I WILL NOT FORGIVE!"

Sorry, I was so busy raving in my head that I forgot to fall off the boat and hit my chin against the dock. I guess I'm going to walk over the old fashioned way.

"Hi Chris! Hi Owen! Hi Heath…I mean, hi Chris! Hi Chris!" I greet as I walk along the dock.

"How do you know our names?" Heather asks me, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh…um…just a lucky guess. Owen is a common name," I reply. "Hi John! Hi Stacy! Hi William! Hi Dorothy!"

"That's enough," Chris scowls at me. "First things first, we need a group photo for the promos. Everyone at the end of the dock."

 **Heather's POV –**

Yeah, no way was I falling for that one again.

"We're not moving!" I yell at Chris.

"Excuse me?" Chris frowned.

"I said, I'm not going back on the dock!" I yell at him. "If you want a promo, we're taking it right here!"

"Heather," Chris frowns. "If you don't comply, I'm going to have to…"

"I'm not going on the dock either," Courtney states, standing near me. "It's clearly unstable for us all at once."

"What she said!" Lindsay also agrees.

Now everyone was shouting at Chris, refusing to go near the dock. It's like they all know what's about to happen…wait a minute…

 **Courtney's POV –**

I'm not the only one who's gone back in time! They all seem to know what's coming. That's because they all have foresight of what's about to come! It all makes sense. That's why barely anyone was saying their original lines.

"Alright, fine," Chris snaps at us. "We can take it right here. Everyone get into position."

He hops on a nearby boat and we all get into our positions from the first promo.

 **Noah's POV –**

Wow, this is uncomfortable. My head is stuck in Owen's armpit, and Trent's elbow is digging into my back. Why did we think was a good idea last time?

And thanks to Heather's little tantrum, it's pretty obvious that I'm not the only one who has foresight of the rest of the game. All of the contestants do. And possibly Chris, though I don't know for sure.

"Okay, got it!" Chris exclaims, everyone say, "Wawanakwa!"

"Wawanakwa!" we all shout, and Chris takes the picture.

"Alright!" he announces. "Now that we've got that over with, follow me over to the campfire pit."

 **Bridgette's POV –**

Everyone has been acting differently from the first time. I might just have bad memory, but I don't remember Heather insisting we all stay away from the dock. I remember getting very wet.

Just when I think things can't get any weirder, turns out we've all gone back.

After Chris finishes explaining the game, and the sleeping arrangements, Lindsay once again asks, "Excuse me, Kyle, can I have a cabin with the lake view since I'm the prettiest?"

"Okay, you are," Chris replies. "But that's not really how it works here and – it's Chris."

"Oh right, you said that the last time," Lindsay nods.

"I have to live with Sadie, or I'll die!" Katie exclaims.

"It's okay, Katie, if we're put on different teams, we'll get through it no problem. We're strong gals," Sadie assures her.

 **Gwen's POV –**

This cannot be happening. It's not only me that's been sent back – it's everyone. I guess it was just too easy to be true.

"Aw, come on, guys!" Owen says cheerfully as he grabs me and Tyler. "It'll be fun! It's like a big sleepover!"

"Please let go of us," Tyler frowns at him.

"Here's the deal!" Chris announces. "We're gonna split into two teams. If I call your name out, go stand over there.

Gwen, Trent, Heather, Cody, Lindsay, Beth, Katie, Owen, Leshawna, Justin and Noah -

From this moment on, you are officially known as…the Screaming Gophers!"

"Yeah!" Owen cheers. "I'm a gopher! Woo!"

Does he really need to re-say all of his lines? How does he remember them all? Either he's the only one who hasn't gone back in time, or he's watched the show over and over to soak up his ego. I really don't care which curtain it is.

"Wait, what about Sadie?" Katie asks in concern, and the girl in question rolls her eyes.

What is going on between those two? They were inseparable last time, and now Sadie doesn't seem to give a damn? Are they in the middle of a fight?

 **Sadie's POV –**

"…Sadie, Izzy, Courtney, Ezekiel, Duncan, Eva and Harold. Move-move-move-move!" Chris announces as we all form a big clump.

"Wait, Sadie can't be on the other team! She has to a Gopher like me!" Katie pleads.

"Katie, it's their final decision. We can't do anything about it," I say to her.

"Are you two doing alright?" Courtney asks in concern.

"Oh, yeah, y'know, just going through a fight…I'd rather not talk about it," I say to her as we walk off.

"I'll miss you!" Katie yells.

"You guys will officially be known as…the Killer Bass!" Chris announces.

 **Owen's POV –**

Okay, I've been on point most of the time so far. Chris just explained the confessional to us, so it looks like it's time to make my first one. Oh, this sounded so cheesy, but it must be done…

"Hey, everyone, check this out – I have something important to say…"

I fart and let out another cheesy laugh.

 **Ezekiel's POV –**

"Gophers, you're in the east cabin. Bass, you're in the west."

Duncan pushes open the door of the cabin, and we all step in.

"Beds!" I cheer in excitement. "Glorious beds!"

I immediately rush for one of the bottom bunks. Half of the springs are broken, and the mattress isn't particularly soft but…it's way better leaves and twigs.

"You seem impressed," Duncan notes.

"Do you not have beds back at the prairie?" Tyler asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, we do, it's just…I had a long journey," I reply. I wasn't exactly lying. They weren't able to send a limo to our area, so my dad had to drive me to the nearest airport in Calgary.

Our car was really old and didn't go very fast, so it took us 10 hours to get there, and it took me another five hours to fly to Ontario.

 **Tyler's POV –**

I watch Ezekiel lie on the bed. He seems immersed in what is admittedly a pretty s***ty bed. Were the conditions really that bad when he was feral?

And yeah, I've figured that everyone else has gone back in time too. It's obvious, really. I probably shouldn't say it yet though, in case there's anyone who hasn't already caught on.

"Yo, I'm DJ. Tyson, is it?" DJ greets me.

"Tyler," I reply.

"Aw, almost had it," DJ sighs, and he gives me a fistbump.

For example, there's DJ. DJ still hasn't caught on.

 **Lindsay's POV –**

"Where are the outlets?" I ask Cyril as I walk out of the cabin. "I need to plug in my straightening iron."

"There are some in the communal bathrooms just across the way," Cyril replies.

"Communal bathrooms – but I'm not Muslim…I mean, Orthodox…Jehovah's witness?"

"Um…okay," Chris (oh yeah, that's his name) replies before walking off.

"You don't need to keep trying to bluff. You're not the only one who has gone back in time," Gwen says, rolling her eyes. "Idiot."

"Wait, WHAT!?" I cry.

 **Noah's POV –**

I peek out of the boys' side of the cabin after hearing Lindsay cry.

Owen, who is right behind me says, "I'm glad we're in our own cabin with just guys, know what I mean?"

Great, he's still trying to recite his lines?

"I mean, no…" Owen continues. "I didn't mean it…"

"Stop," I snap at him. "Just…stop!"

"I didn't mean it like that…"

 **Leshawna's POV –**

"You've got a half an hour to unpack and meet me at the main lodge…starting now," I hear Chris announce.

Good, that should give me some to…

I wince in shock as I hear a scream coming from inside the cabin. It's the white girl and the cockroach. Yeah, I'm not going over there this time.

I notice nobody else goes over either, besides Tyler, who quickly grabs an axe from nearby and rushes into the cabin.

That's when I hear another scream, and then Tyler hops out of the cabin with an axe stuck in his shoe.

"OWCH!" he screams. "IT HURTS SO BAD!"

"Tyler, it's okay! It's okay, Tyler. I'll get it out!" Lindsay exclaims before she grabs the axe.

"Thanks," Tyler replies in relief before he says, "I think my foot is bleeding."

"I know first aid," Bridgette sighs before she walks over.

 **Geoff's POV –**

Ugh, what is that smell? That's right – we're back at that awful mess hall.

I shouldn't have to stand for this! Brody and I have personal chefs back home who cook whatever we want!

Yeah, too bad Chef is so f***ing terrifying that I have no other choice.

I've just got my food and sat down. This can't be so hard…it's just…brown slop…

 **Duncan's POV –**

I roll my eyes as I watch Geoff throw under the table. Seriously? He's already giving up? He should try prison food for a year.

I watch as Chef marches over and pulls Geoff off of his stump.

"You alright?" he asks in a concerning tone.

"Yeah…I guess…" Geoff replies, panting a little.

"Okay," Chef nods. "I just want you to know…you're a huge PUSSY!"

"Your first challenge begins in one hour!" Chris announces from nearby.

The cliff dive is soon. Eh, I'm not worried. It didn't phase me at all the first time, and I obviously won't be scared this time.

* * *

 **And that's the first chapter. Please fav, follow and review whatever your opinon. I shall see you next time ;)**


	2. Episode 2

**Disclaimer: This chapter contains dialogue from the fic "Total Drama Underdogs" by StayOuttaMyShed, which has been used near the end of the chapter for the purpose of parody. Just thought I'd mention it here in case I get reviews accusing me of plagiarism :3**

 **And wow, 16 REVIEWS after the first chapter? Okay, 2 of them were double posts and 2 were from spam accounts, but 12 is still pretty amazing. The most I've ever gotten in one chapter until now is 4. Thank you to each and every one of you for your kind words :)**

* * *

 **Noah's POV –**

I am amazed by the stupidity and ignorance of people. Did they seriously believe that we jumped from a 1,000 foot cliff? The impact from that kind of fall would have very likely resulted in us all dying on impact.

The cliff was (or should I say 'is') actually about 15 feet. It's still high, but not high enough to cause any injuries. It was most likely photoshopped in the actual broadcast.

The sharks on the other hand? They were real. Very, very real.

 **Bridgette's POV –**

Once Chris had finished explaining the challenge, he announces that the Killer Bass are all up first.

My team-mates and I all look at each other awkwardly, and I'm about to go to the edge, when I hear Owen say, "Hey, don't sweat it guys! I heard that these shows always make the interns do the stunts first to make sure it's survivable."

I roll my eyes before saying, "Alright. I'll go first."

I jump off, land a few seconds later, and wave at the others.

 **Geoff's POV –**

I'm next to jump. This dive is nothing. Brody and I have personal trainers who taught us how to jump over 100 feet without being injured. I barely splash any water when I land.

"Look out below!" Eva yells as she is the next to jump. I quickly swim off and climb onto the boat with Bridgette. She doesn't look at me, but I can tell what's on her mind.

 **DJ's POV –**

I watch Duncan as he lands in the water, emotionless as ever. I am left standing hesitantly at the edge.

Jumping from a cliff doesn't seem like such a bad thing after three seasons of this show, but still…it's so high…

"Are you jumping or not?" Ezekiel, who is standing behind me, asks.

"I…I…I'mma do it," I sighed, before stepping off the cliff.

 **Ezekiel's POV –**

I clench my eyes as the echoes of DJ's screams shake the cliff. Maybe it was just as well that he didn't jump last time. Then again, it might have saved me being voted off…

I am next to jump, though I'm careful this time not to hit the cliff halfway through, and everyone who has already jumped cheers for me.

I quickly swim out of the way for Harold to land. Once again…

 **Harold's POV –**

"Arrgh!" I scream to myself as I land doing the splits. "Arrrgh!"

That hurt just as much as the first time. But I knew it wouldn't be the last time on this show…

And then somebody lands on my head.

"Do you mind!?" I yell. "Gosh!"

"Oh, sorry," Courtney apologizes to me, before she swims to the boat.

Wait a minute, Courtney isn't supposed to jump…

 **Courtney's POV –**

I'm still embarrassed over how cowardly I was during season one. After that, my determination to win skyrocketed – so of course I jumped this time.

I look up at the cliff and notice that only Tyler, Sadie and Izzy are left standing.

 **Tyler's POV –**

I look down at the cliff nervously, aware of how painful my landing was last time.

"Er…should I go next?" Sadie asks.

I shrug and am about to stand aside when Katie runs over and grabs Sadie.

"No!" she screams. "I can't jump without you! We have to be together!"

"Katie, there's nothing we can do. Chris said his decision was final," Sadie pleads.

"Say what?" Izzy says in confusion.

"Can we switch teams!?" Katie cries, looking at Chris with puppy eyes. Chris frowns in response.

While Katie is doing this, Sadie scoffs to herself before jumping off.

The look on Katie's face is absolutely priceless. She growls to herself before stomping back to the rest of the gophers.

"Okay…" Izzy says uncertainly. "Me next! Me-me-me-me!"

With that, she expresses a scream of delight as she jumps, leaving me as the only one left.

"Okay, ten jumpers so far!" Chris announces. "Tyler, are you jumping or not?"

"Um…uh…" I hesitate before tensing myself up and muttering, "For Lindsay."

With that, I jump off. Amazingly enough, I don't end up hitting the buoy.

The rest of the Bass cheer as I emerge from the water.

"Okay, surprisingly, eleven jumpers, and no chickens," Chris stated as he held a clipboard. "If the Screaming Gophers can't get the same result, the Killer Bass get a pull cart to put their crates on!"

"Okay, guys, who's up first?" Trent asks.

After a few seconds, Heather raises her hand, "I'll do it," she says kindly, before walking over to the other side of the cliff.

 **Heather's POV –**

I notice the baffled looks on everyone's faces as I jump. Since everyone knows that I'm evil, I figure I'll just confuse and mislead by acting all nice.

They'll probably fall for it, but who knows?

 **Leshawna's POV –**

What the…either Heather was dropped on her head this morning, or she is up to something…and I don't like it.

"This is nothing," Lindsay says, the next to walk to the edge. "The jump from the plane was way higher…er…I mean…the crane. Me and my friends visited a crane and we all fell off. It's a long story. Arrrrrrgh!"

She lands in the water with a splash, and I wait a couple of seconds before following behind.

 **Justin's POV –**

Gwen and Cody are the next to jump, leaving me to go next.

Wait, but what if I can't swim away in time? What if the fall disfigures my face? It doesn't matter what happened last time – I will do whatever I can to prevent my face from becoming what it does in the future.

"Justin…dude?" Chris calls out.

"I can't do it! I'm not jumping," I say in panic.

"Don't worry about it," Chris assures as he walk over. "It just makes you a big chicken, which means you have to wear this chicken hat for the rest of the day. Loser way down is that way!"

I hang my head in shame as I go down. Anything to preserve my natural beauty. Anything.

 **Katie's POV –**

I watch as Beth lands in the water. I'm surprised she actually did it this time, but I suppose two seasons of this show can change you.

As for me...it looks like I'm next. Does it matter if I jump? We've lost this challenge anyway. But what if I get voted off? Ugh, this is so much harder without Sadie at my side…

I sigh and say, "I can't do it."

With that, I take my chicken hat and go.

 **Noah's POV –**

In the original version, before I did my dive, I called Chris out on how the cliff wasn't actually 1,000 feet, and Chris shushed me in response. They edited the line out, and it's probably why they edited out my jump altogether.

 **Owen's POV –**

I hold out my hand for Trent to high-five, but he doesn't take it. Okay, I have figured out that I'm not the only one who has gone back, but the least they can do is play along.

I watch as Trent and Noah quickly swim off. Clearly they know what's about to come. In fact, almost everyone is starting to clear out of the beach near the lake.

I slowly pull the arm-bands on, before tensing my arms.

"I'm going to die now," I say. "I'm going to freakin' die now."

With that, I clench my eyes, before doing a run jump off the cliff.

I land in the water, and just like before, the water splashes everywhere. Nearly everyone had gotten out of the way at that point, but the sharks weren't so lucky.

"Yes! Yeah!" I cheer. "Oh yeah! Who's the man?"

However, nobody else seems to want to cheer along with me this time round.

"Congratulations Owen!" Chris announces. "But the Screaming Gophers still lose! Killer Bass, you win!"

"I…uh…think I lost my bathing suit," I say, but nobody seems to hear me over all the cheering from the Killer Bass.

 **Tyler's POV –**

"49 bottles of beer on the wall, 49 bottles of beer," everyone sings as we pull the crates along. "If one of those bottles should happen to fall, 48 bottles of beer on the wall."

By the way, the Gophers sang 'beer' and not 'pop' in the original, but the censors edited it.

"I've got to take a wiz," I state, before dropping my cart, which I had been pulling along with Sadie. "Er…"

"I'm not going with you," Sadie hisses at me.

"Oh right…because, you know, you're worried about…I'm going to go now," I say awkwardly, before dashing off.

I arrive at the tree, and I see Katie enter at the same time. Tears are visible on her face. Poor girl – I have no idea what happened between her and Sadie, but she sure isn't taking it well.

 **Courtney's POV –**

I pull one of the carts along, with Duncan by my side, when some insect comes flying over.

"Arrgh," I gasp as I tilt my head away, only for Duncan to squash the insect with his hand.

"Oh…er…thanks," I respond, before grinning, "So, how has prison been?"

"Juvie, or regular?" Duncan asks, chuckling.

"Regular jail? But…you're only 16," I respond in mock-surprise.

"So, Court, how has it been for you?" Duncan inquires. "How does it feel to know that you're not the only one who has gone back? To know that whatever mysterious force caused this doesn't think you're so special?"

"Don't try to test me," I reply flatly.

"That was the answer I wanted," Duncan chuckles, winking at me.

Okay, Courtney, you know he's a charming guy, but you can't fall for him again. Think about all the pain he will cause you…

 **Justin's POV –**

I groan as the rest of my team-mates and I are forced to push our crates along the sand.

"Ugh, I am sweating so hard," I say. "This can't be good for my pores."

"And it's your vanity that got us into this mess," Noah says snarkily as he and Cody push their crate past me.

"Hey, Katie didn't jump either," I protest.

"Just keep moving," Noah snaps.

Seriously? Noah is complaining that I'm not a team player? Let's see how things are in a week when we play dodgeball.

 **Beth's POV -**

"Come on, Lindthay, we can do it!" I encourage as we push our crates across the sand. "Push as hard as you can!"

"Gah!" Lindsay screams, jumping up in the air and waving her arms with fright.

"Um…are you okay?" I ask in concern.

"It's…it's nothing," Lindsay replies. "Let's keep going!"

 **Lindsay's POV –**

I wish I could have told Beth but…it has been a couple of years since we last hung out and I don't know if she'd understand.

'Push as hard as you can' are the last words that I remember hearing before I fell asleep and woke up back in time. And I was with this really creepy old man as well.

I…I honestly don't know how I would have gotten by without my Tyler helping me through. Still, I can stop that from happening – right?

 **Tyler's POV –**

Sadie gives me the weirdest look as I run back to the team, completely out of breath.

"Um…" she says awkwardly as she pulls her crate and I struggle to keep up.

How did I ever believe that I was a star athlete when I couldn't run without panting for more than 10 metres?

"I'm…f-fine," I gasp.

"Looks like we're back at camp!" Izzy exclaims excitedly.

"I am pleasantly surprised," Harold states, his hands on his hips.

Sounds like someone has been watching the re-runs.

 **Gwen's POV –**

Just continuing to push, continuing to be stuck behind…

"ARRRRRRRRGGGGHHHHH!" I hear from a distance.

"Yo, what was that?" Leshawna, who is beside, me, asks.

Katie comes running over screaming, "ITCHY! ITCHY! SO ITCHY!"

"Poison ivy?" Leshawna guesses.

"No! I avoided them this time, so I went to find some other leaves!" Katie wails. "But when I touched them they stang like crazy!"

"You sat on nettles?" I ask, not believing what I hear. Katie doesn't respond, but quickly leaps into the lake.

 **Leshawna's POV –**

I shake my head at the…Asian…girl? I'm not really sure what Katie's ethnicity is, and I'm not about to ask.

"We better keep going!" I exclaim. "We can still catch up."

 **Izzy's POV –**

"Grrr…grr…" I groan as I try to pull off the rope with my teeth. "This is worse than hospital food."

"Do I even want to know?" Tyler asks sarcastically, before he stops pulling his rope to take several deep breaths.

"Got it!" Eva yells as her box bursts open. "I got wood."

"No you don't. I've seen you undress," I giggle, still trying to pop open the create.

Eva shakes her head as she shoots me a look of disblief.

"Some hammers and a pool liner," DJ calls back, before letting out a girly scream.

 **DJ's POV –**

I don't really know what's going on. Why is everything so different to before? How are we in the lead? I mean, I guess me jumping the cliff made a difference, but Courtney jumped as well for some reason. Did me jumping encourage her or something?

"You look dazed," Bridgette remarks as she walks along with a bucket.

"Er…it's all cool," I reply hesitantly, before pulling the pool liner out of the box.

I see Sadie and Tyler nearby taking a bag of nails out of one of the boxes. Sadie seems to be jigging around a bit.

"Are you sure you don't need to go to the bathroom?" Tyler asks her.

"I'm fine," Sadie snaps at him.

"I'm pretty sure Katie is long gone," Tyler adds.

"I said I'm fine!" Sadie yells.

That reminds me – why didn't Katie move to our team?

 **Noah's POV –**

"Finally," I groan as I fall flat on the campground.

"You made it," Courtney chuckles.

"Where's Katie?" Duncan asks, magically popping out of one of the boxes.

"I bet she's drinking with her butt again," I hear Harold mutter to Ezekiel, who shoots him a deadpan look.

 **Heather's POV –**

"Okay team!" I announce 'excitedly' as several of them sit on the bench as if they've already accepted our loss. "I know we didn't get off to the best start, but we can still win!"

"What's the point?" Gwen protests. "We only have nine crates – they couldn't build a hot-tub with nine last time."

"We made one with ten crates, so never say never," I point out.

"Look, girl, I don't know what kind o' game you're trying to play, but you ain't foolin' nobody," Leshawna groans. "You can go ahead and quit it with your good girl routine."

"Well…sorry…I was just trying to help," I sigh.

"Okay, I love a good cat fight as much as next guy," Noah says as he walks over to us. "But Heather is right. We mightn't have all of the materials, but it doesn't hurt to try."

"That's very optimistic of you, Noah," I beam.

"What the heck is wrong with you?" Noah says suspiciously as he rolls his eyes.

"I'll get Katie!"

 **Ezekiel's POV –**

What do you know? Things are actually going in order.

Harold and I hammer some nails into the hot tub, while Bridgette is inside lining the tarp. I must say, it's a nice view…

But the Gophers don't seem to be backing down.

I can see Owen carrying three buckets of water in his arms, which Heather cheers at him to go.

That's when Noah opens up the last crate.

"Seriously?" he shouts as he pulls out some more wood. "No hammer or screwdriver in any of these boxes?"

 **Justin's POV –**

"We are even more screwed than before," Gwen groans as she sits on the steps of the porch.

Everyone sighs in defeat before Cody speaks up -

"Wait a minute – what if we had someone strong enough to push the nails in!?"

"I take it you think you're going to do it?" Gwen asks sarcastically.

"Haha, no," Cody chuckles. "Who's the strongest person on the team?"

That's when everyone gestures towards me.

"Hmm…what?" I ask, pretending as if I didn't hear.

"Do you think you're strong enough to put in the nails by hand?" Katie asks me.

Put in the nails by hand? What if I get a splinter? It could scar me for life! And that much hard work might give me wrinkles…

"No," I reply.

"Um…could you even try?" Katie asks.

"There is…uh…no way I can do it," I stammer. "It's impossible."

"But…" Leshawna begins to protest.

"I'm making a confessional!" I yell as I run off.

 **Cody's POV –**

That was weird…

"Trent?" I suggest.

"I suppose I could give it a go…" Trent shrugs.

…

 **Trent's POV –**

I groan to myself as our team stands before Chris. My fingers are bandaged up from all the cuts and splinters I got from trying to put together the hot tub.

"You doing alright?" Gwen asks me.

"Still hurts a bit, but I'm fine," I reply.

He looks at our hot tub and inspects it. I did my best to get all of the nails in, and it looks a bit crooked, but the other team's tub is kind of lopsided as well – but at least they had all the pieces.

 **Ezekiel's POV –**

Yeah…our team tried our best, but I guess in the end the other team just happened to be better builders, despite their set-backs.

I really don't want to go home first. Not again…

Chris doesn't say anything as he inspects both of our tubs.

"Okay…both of you did a pretty job. Neither are perfect, but they're both fine…" Chris states. "Hmm…"

Just then, one of the nails pops out of the Gophers' hot tub, and ends up hitting Bridgette in the eye.

"Ouch! OUCH!" Bridgette screams as she runs off, and Courtney goes after her calling, "I'll give you medical attention!"

The Screaming Gophers all look even tenser.

"Mm-hmm," Chris notes. "I think we have a winner here – the Killer Bass!"

The nine of us who are still present immediately start jumping about and cheering.

"Bass, you're safe from elimination, and you get to rock this awesome hot tub for the rest of the summer – bonus!"

I didn't go first! I got past the first episode!

So, yeah, it feels great to cheer along with everyone else.

"Killer Bass, what can I say? Sucks to be you right now. I'll see your sorry butts at the bonfire tonight."

"We did it! We did it! We did it!" Sadie begins to cheer as she clutches herself. "Eeeeeeeeiiiiiiiiiiiii!"

I notice Tyler starts to give her a weird look. "Is it really the same with one person?"

Sadie then proceeds to grab him and continues to jump up and down and squee.

I see him sigh as he shrugs his shoulders.

* * *

I continue on my way from the mess hall, when I'm suddenly confronted by Harold.

"You were home schooled your whole life in the prairie, weren't you?" he asks me.

"Um…yes," I nod.

"Which means you haven't seen much of the real world outside of where you were raised, right?"

Does he not know that we're…eh, never mind…

"Sounds about right, eh."

"Alright I'll just let you know now, your folks are pretty wrong about girls. That might be a lot to take in since it was how you were raised, but trust me when I say that they can be just as strong and smart as guy can. They can give me some of the harshest wedgies too."

Colour me surprised.

"Never mind, the point is that kind of mindset could get you eliminated around here. The girls on the show with us would probably tear you apart if they heard you saying stuff like that. Like Eva."

"Yeah…uh…got it…sir," I nod hesitantly. "She is…um…probably stronger than most of the guys here."

"Not to mention more aggressive," Harold adds. "Could you imagine what she would have done if she'd heard you make a comment about women being weaker or less smart than men?"

But…I'd never said anything up to this point…

"Point taken," I nod, forcing a smile. "Thank you, uh, Harold. You really saved my, um, skin, eh."

"Don't mention it," Harold smiles as he pats me on the shoulder. "If you need any more advice, just let me know. I can be like your teacher when it comes to learning about the real world!"

"Thank you," I mumble as I stare at my shoes.

"No problem. We better get to dinner," Harold states.

"Yes," I say as he begins to walk off.

HOW HAS HE NOT FIGURED OUT WHAT'S GOING ON!?

 **Noah's POV –**

Well, dinner was generally suckish, but I haven't come to expect anything less from this show.

Looks like we're going to elimination. I generally feel safe, but I didn't expect elimination the first time round, so who knows?

"Psst," hisses a voice from behind a tree. "Noah!"

"Who's there?" I ask as I walk over, only to see Heather and Justin standing before me.

"Good, you're both here," Heather grins as she folds her arms. "In case you guys don't remember, you two were the first ones voted off our team last time."

"Yeah, what about it?" I ask, putting my hands in my pockets.

"Well, unless you guys want that to happen again, I suggest you team up and ally with me," Heathers instructs.

"And why would that happen again? Do you not think I've learned my lesson!?" I say, raising my eyebrows.

Heather glares at me, and I sigh, "Okay, let's just say I do need your help. Who do you want me to vote for?"

"Gwen," Heather says sharply.

"Are you serious?" I ask. "I know you have your issues, but she's a strong player."

"She's the reason I ended up bald for a year!" Heather snaps. "And I would prefer it if that didn't happen again."

"Either way, we'll all remember it," I snigger.

"Okay, who do you suggest?" Heather asks me.

"I don't know…Lindsay? She hates you as well, and we already saw in season 5 how stupid she's become," I point out.

Heather nods, but now it's Justin's turn to protest –

"What? Why Lindsay? She's actually good looking. We should get rid of Beth."

"You have no right to be telling us who to vote for," I snap. "You're on thin ice as it is. First you didn't jump to cliff, and then you refused to help us in the challenge."

"Did you see how many splinters Trent got? I had every right to be worried," Justin insists.

"I don't know what's come over you, but consider yourself lucky we don't vote you off," Noah sighs.

"Okay, Lindsay it is," Heather nods. "Justin, I need you to talk to Katie – she's clearly vulnerable right now, so she might actually go along with it. And Noah, can you get Owen on our side?"

"Sure," I shrug. "But that's still only five votes out of six."

"It's a risk I'm willing to take," Heather says. "There's no way we can get anyone else on our side."

"I'll try my best to convince him," I say before walking off.

* * *

 **Voting confessionals –**

 **Leshawna: Justin has added nothing to the team since he got here. Heather may be trying to play mind-games, but he's got my vote.**

 **Owen: I was going to vote for Katie, but Noah is smart and knows what he's doing, so I'm voting for Lindsay**

 **And yeah…at this point I may as well forget about doing everything the same. Still, I was never bad at improv.**

 **Lindsay: Heather! I've been waiting to do this since Lights, Camera, Action!**

 **Noah: This is a waste of time! [facepalms] But I'm going to vote for Lindsay. Justin may be useless, but I'm taking all the security I can get.**

* * *

 **Lindsay's POV –**

"Screaming Gophers," Chip announces as we sit on tree stumps. "At camp, marshmallows represent a tasty treat that you enjoy roasting by the fire. At this camp, marshmallows represent life!

You've all cast your votes and made your decision. When I call your name, come up and claim your marshmallow."

Ooh, I really hope I don't go first. I might get flushed again…

"The camper who does not receive a marshmallow tonight must immediately return to the dock of shame to catch the Boat of Losers. That means you are out of contest, and you can't come back. Ever."

"The first marshmallow goes to…"

…

"Trent."

…

"Noah."

…

"Leshawna."

…

"Gwen."

…

"Katie."

…

"Cody."

…

"Beth."

…

"Owen."

"Woo-hoo!" Owen cheers as he gets up and gobbles down his marshmallow.

…

"Heather."

What? How did she get through? I thought Glen said we all went back…I'm even more confused…

"Campers – this is the final marshmallow of the evening!" Chris announces.

Wait…how did I get points? Oh well – Justin is left too, and he didn't do anything.

Oh no – I really can't go! Not now!

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

"…it's a tie."

What!?

 **Noah's POV –**

Even Heather is visibly surprised. It's amazing that she actually pulled it off.

So, what now? There weren't any tie-breakers in the first season, so it could be anything.

"Both of you received five votes," Chris states. "Fortunately, we have a solution for such an event. Everyone besides Lindsay and Justin will vote again. If there is still a tie, one person will randomly be eliminated."

That was what they had planned? It's honestly fitting, considering season 1 was very similar to Survivor.

 **Heather's POV –**

"Alright," Chris nods as Lindsay and Justin. "With that, the final marshmallow goes to…"

…

…

…

…

…

"Lindsay."

I have to cover my ears to shield myself from Lindsay's deafening squeal. Damn, so close!

"Sorry, bro," Chris shrugs as he looks at Justin. "Dock of shame is that-a-way!"

"Oh well," Justin mumbles. "At least I won't be able to get hurt from here on."

And he slowly walks off, tossing his silky…

 **Noah's POV –**

I could never fathom what people saw in Justin during his hey-day. He's just a generic f**k-boy, nothing more.

Hang on…what's happening? A nest of wasps swarming around Justin? Covering his face in red bumps? Continuing to do so as he boards the newly-arrived boat of losers?

I've found my happy ending…

 **Tyler's POV –**

"Woo! We did it! We won!" I cheer as I set foot into the hot tub, only to fall over in shock.

"It's just water," Sadie says snarkily.

"I know, I know," I nod. "But…shut up!"

"To the Killer Bass!" Geoff cheers as he leaps out of the tub and starts break dancing in front of us.

"To the bass! To the bass!" DJ and Duncan chant as they join in.

 **Heather's POV –**

The 10 of us who survived the elimination walk back to our cabin, trying our best to ignore how obnoxious the Killer Bass are acting.

Ugh, I came so close. I'm honestly amazed that I managed to force a tie, but still…so close….

Whatever, Justin was the one who left. Not me. And as long as I keep the others guessing I can stay on top.

"You tried," Noah says snarkily as he walks up from behind me and puts a hand on my shoulder. "But it's okay. We all have to endure being an early boot at some point."

"Can it, know-it-all," I snap at him.

Who is he calling an early boot? I've made it to the finale before. I could easily do it again. I will dominate this season. Sure, I may not be the only person who has gone back in time, but as long as I play innocent, nobody will know for sure.

* * *

 **Votes -**

 **Justin (5) - Beth, Cody, Gwen, Leshawna, Trent**

 **Lindsay (5) - Heather, Justin, Katie, Noah, Owen**

 **Heather (1) - Lindsay**

 _ **Nobody changed their vote during the tiebreaker**_

 **And that's a wrap.**

 **Justin may not have been a competent player in this fic, but his elimination did help to establish Heather's strategic play for the season, including her alliance with Noah.**

 **What did you think? Any comments on the characters and their plotlines so far? Let me know in a review no matter your opinion and fav and follow if you haven't already.**

 **I already have the first five chapters written so there should be weekly updates for the rest of month. After that, we'll see...**


	3. Episode 3

**Time for this week's update!**

 **In reply to Mantas: No, I wasn't referring to you as a spam account. I was referring to two copy-pasted reviews, which have since been removed due to the accounts being banned**

* * *

 **DJ's POV –**

I wake up and pan my eyes around the room. I'm back in my apartment. Huh, I guess it was a dream all along.

I sit up and stretch my arms, before I hear a faint call from downstairs.

"DJ! Get your ass out of bed!"

Mama? What's she doing here this early in the morning?

I yawn again before leaving my room and going into the kitchen. Mama is standing by the stove.

"Mama, what are you doing here?" I ask.

"I thought I'd come in and surprise you with a nice, healthy breakfast," Mama replies.

"Well, thank you," I smile. "What are you making?"

"Rabbit stew."

My eyes widened as I notice Bunny sitting on the counter.

"NO!" I cry as I try to grab him, only for Mama to slap me in the face.

"DJ," she hisses at me, before letting out a loud honk

 **Tyler's POV -**

My eyes pop open as I'm greeted by an air-horn from outside the cabin.

Great – this challenge.

As we go to stand outside the cabin, Ezekiel jogs up to the rest of us.

"Hello, fellas," he greets us.

"How long have you been up?" I ask him as I rub my eyes.

"About a half-hour," Ezekiel responds gleefully. "I usually get up at six back home."

Unbelievable

 **Ezekiel's POV –**

I've felt a rush through my head since last night. I actually made it past the first episode! I'm going to experience challenges I never experienced before. I shan't be anything but excited.

"Morning!" Chris greets us. "Hope you slept well."

"Yes!" I exclaim in satisfaction. I am earned some odd stares, so I look down at my shoes and don't say anything else.

"Okay, I hope you're ready because your next challenge begins in exactly one minute," Chris continues.

A few people let out fake gasps at this.

"There's no time to eat breakfast!" Owen cries.

"Oh, you'll get breakfast, Owen," Chris 'assures' him. "Right after you complete your 20 kilometre run around the lake!"

 **Heather's POV –**

We line up at the starting line. Some people get into a starting stance, but I don't bother.

"Okay, runners!" Chris announces. "On your marks, get set, go!"

As soon as he says this, everyone adopts a walking pace.

Huh, I guess the others aren't as brain-dead as I thought. That's not saying much though.

 **Harold's POV –**

I take a deep breath as I approach Ezekiel.

"Hey," I greet him.

"Hello," he responds in a cheerful manner.

"I just wanted to say," I sigh. "I'm sorry for calling you sexist when you didn't even say anything."

"Aw, no worries, eh," he assures me. "You were just lookin' out for me."

"Alright, well, I'm happy that you're not mad," Harold smiles at me. "And, remember, you can still ask me anything about the real world."

 **Ezekiel's POV –**

If I'm being honest, Harold is kind of pretentious. Seriously, he thinks he's an expert on the real world?

At least I have an excuse. He's socially inept despite having been in the real world.

I mean, I can only tell from the fact that he always got his ass kicked by Duncan or rejected by Leshawna in the first two seasons.

Eh, I guess he's not so bad.

 **Katie's POV –**

I'm somewhere near the back of the pack, but it's not like it matters considering it's not really the challenge.

"Is everything alright, girl?" Leshawna asks as she walks up next to me.

"Hm?"

"I notice things. I heard you crying yourself to sleep last night. Everything okay?" Leshawna asks me.

I try to play it off casually. "Oh, you know, me and Sadie had a silly little fight. It was nothing really."

"Right," Leshawna nods, not looking convinced. "If you ever need someone to talk to…well…you know where I am."

I sigh to myself as she walks off.

 **Eva's POV –**

I'm first to arrive back at the mess hall, with Izzy not far behind me.

"Ooh! We made it back first!" she says excitedly. "Think we'll get a special prize?"

As we walk in, we see Chris sitting at one of the mess hall tables filing his nails, and looking very pissed off.

"What the heck took you so long?" he frowns at us. "It's already 11 o'clock. Do none of you care about winning?"

"Calm yourself. We made it well before dinnertime," I say, rolling my eyes. "We still get to eat, right?"

"Oh! Oh! I call dibs on the maple syrup!" Izzy exclaims, waving her hand in the air.

"Just sit down and stop bugging me," Chris says angrily.

"Don't sit beside me," I say to Izzy before going to find a seat.

 **Izzy's POV –**

You know, I always wondered how the windows ended up with that olive green tint.

Were they always like that? Did it build up over time due to some sort of bacteria, or fungus, or something?

That makes me wonder…was this summer camp created especially for the show? Like, did parents unironically send their children here?

I wonder if it was a Japanese internment camp. Did they have those in Canada? I've seen pictures of those. Why are they always smiling and having fun? Those weird Japanese, all like, yeah, I've been forcibly taken away from my home, but who wants to play another round of volleyball?

"Open sesame!" I shout as the door opens and I stretch out my neck to see who's coming in. "Sadie and Tyler!"

I run over and give them a tight squeeze.

"All of our teammates are here! We win! We win!" I cheer.

"You do realise this isn't the actual challenge," Tyler reminds me.

"Oh, I know! I just really wanted to say that," I giggle.

 **Noah's POV –**

I open the door to the mess hall. I'm pretty sure I'm the last person here since I don't remember passing anyone out.

A few people have resorted to napping on the table or the floor. Kind of a dumb plan considering napping causes grogginess and disorientation, but I don't expect anyone else to know this.

"Okay, you're all here. And it only took five hours," Chris groans as he makes his way across the mess hall.

"What? You mean I lost us the challenge? Oh no," I cry sarcastically.

"Fear not, Noah. That wasn't the challenge," Chris laughs.

A few people, including myself, let out mock gasps.

"Who's hungry?" Chris asks, standing in front of a purple curtain. It opens, revealing the infamous buffet, complete with those jagged bits of shiny cardboard being moved around by interns under the table.

 **Owen's POV –**

It's all right there! Just as I remember it! The turkey, the baked beans, the maple syrup, the mashed potatoes…it's so hard not to cry right now.

"What are you waiting for!?" Chris shouts. "Dig in!"

"Come to papa!" I cry, holding my arms out as I rush towards the table of the heavens.

"Hold on, big boy," Noah says as he catches my waist.

"Mind, Noah, you know that I'm ticklish," I chuckle.

"Remember, this isn't the real challenge. It's the awake-a-thon, so, no need to overeat."

"Overeat? That word isn't in my vocabulary," I smirk, running over to the buffet anyway.

 **Trent's POV**

While Owen is busy stuffing his face, the rest of us take our time. There are no plates provided, so we all crowd around the table, grabbing a mouthful at a time.

I help myself to one of the cinnamon rolls in a clay pot, only for Gwen's hand to touch against mine.

"Sorry," she says nervously, bringing her hand away.

"No, you have it, I insist," I say, a smirk across my face.

"Whatever you say, music man," she smirks back, bringing the roll to her lips. I flash a cheesy grin and she rolls her eyes.

"Excuse me," Cody says, cutting in beside me. I see has brought along a backpack, and is stuffing as much food as he can inside.

"If you don't mind me asking…"

"Since this isn't the actual challenge, what's to say we can't save some food for later?" Cody mutters to me. "It's better than eating Chef's crap."

He has a point, but I think I'll give squashed and sticky cinnamon rolls a pass.

 **Gwen's POV –**

It's really hard to psych myself up for this challenge. It's still one of the most brutal things I've ever faced on this show – and that's saying a lot!

The feeling of being sleep deprived for that long – it messed me up so hard last time, and I don't think I can do it again.

And there's something else. What if I'm stuck talking to Trent all over again? I mean, he's a nice guy, but things have never been the same between us. I can't talk to him for more than five minutes without things getting weird and awkward.

"Hello, Gwen," Heather greets, sitting down beside me with a terrifying smile on her face. "You look down. Do you want to talk about it?"

"Beat it, Heather," I snap at her.

"There's no need to be rude. I'm just trying to help," Heather sighs, getting up and walking away.

"What is with her?" I ask as Leshawna sits down with some spinach in hand.

"I don't know, girl, but she's been like that for days," Leshawna says, shaking her head. "I can tell she's planning something dangerous."

"It's Heather. What do you expect?" I ask rhetorically.

 **Leshawna's POV –**

Heather should consider herself lucky that Justin stuck out like a sore thumb last time, because her time is almost up.

I clench my eyes as I endure a loud burp behind me, courtesy of Owen.

The buffet has been licked clean, the cue for Chris to leap out from behind the curtain and onto the table.

"Okay, seriously?" he frowned, his voice blaring through his megaphone. "What the heck was that? There's one hundred thousand dollars at stake, folks. I would have expected a bit more competitive spirit."

"Sorry to have displeased you, good sir," I hear Noah say in his usual dry tone, folding his arms.

Chris shoots him an unimpressed look, before carrying on with his announcement, "Okay, campers! Time for part two of your challenge."

"I thought eating was the second part." Damn, is Owen still keeping that up?

"What more do you want from us?" Aw no, not you too, Gwen.

"Beautiful goth girl is right." Oh f**k off, Heather.

"It's time for the Awake-a-thon!" Chris continues.

"The what-a-thon?" Owen chimes in.

"Don't worry, this is an easy one," Chris says, leaping off the table. "The team with the last camper standing wins invincibility."

 **Courtney's POV –**

"Wo-hoo! Stay awake for twelve hours? I could do that in my sleep. Wo-hoo!"

And with that, Owen collapses on the ground. I have to say, it's impressive that he managed to do it right on cue for a second time. He was still the first person out either way.

I don't know how I could fall asleep right now. I have so much stuff on my mind.

I need to make things up with Gwen. Even though it's been a couple of years, I'm still not over the events of All Stars. It's been in the back of my mind all this time, adding to the stress I already feel on a day-to-day basis.

But I've got time to think about how I will handle it. The merge is long way away, and I just know that we're both going to make the cut.

More importantly, I need to stay away from Duncan at all costs. He needs to go as soon as possible, because I can't fall for him all over again. I know what he's capable of.

Him and his milky smooth skin, and his shiny blue eyes and…see what I mean? All I do is think about his face and it draws me in!

 **Beth's POV –**

My eyes are focused on Lindsay, as she once again stands on her head.

"Girl, what are you doing?" Leshawna asks her.

"Trying to get the blood to rush to my head," she says. "I think it's working!"

"I'd get down if I were you," Noah remarks. "Not unless you enjoy neck injuries."

I shake my head before standing back up, "Did she get neck injurieth the firth time?"

After taking a second to compose myself, I crouch down beside her and too stand on my head.

"You're right, Lindsay! I feel refreshed already!" I exclaim.

Lindsay and I look at each other, and she gives me a warm smile, before looking away uncertainly.

"Are you okay?" I ask her.

Her eyes go wide and she says, "Yes! Perfect as can be! Don't worry about me, Beth!"

She then lets out a scream as her legs suddenly land back on the ground.

"I'm okay," she says as she gets back into position. "See, I can do it again!"

 **Cody's POV –**

"Mmm, mmm," I mutter to myself as I wolf on the cinnamon rolls stashed in my backpack. I forgot how much I loved sugary snacks, since I've been watching what I eat over the past couple of years.

"Hey, dude," I say, tapping Noah on the shoulder. "Want one?"

"Have you been behind me the whole time!?" Noah cries, a look of disgust on his face. He then gets up and walks over to the other end of the Gopher stumps.

There was no need to be so rude, though I'm happy that kiss will be off the records. I got bullied so badly for it.

The rest of the Gophers are snorting with laughter. I look at Katie, who is sitting beside me, and she is laughing the hardest. It's the first time I've seen her smile since we got here. It's kind of concerning when I think about it.

 **Heather's POV –**

"I'm going to bathroom," I hear Eva say. She locks eyes with me and adds, holding up her MP3 player, "And I'm taking this with me!"

Oh, please, how predictable do you think I am? I didn't make the final 3 twice for nothing.

Noah sits down in front of me, and I bring my finger to my chin before tapping him on the shoulder.

"Meet me behind those trees in five minutes," she hisses. "Make sure you aren't followed."

With that, I walk off, but not before I catch Noah rolling his eyes and turning his head back.

 **Noah's POV –**

I stop running and gasp for breath when I reach Heather.

"What took you so long?" she hisses at me. "I've been standing here for, like, fifteen minutes."

"Yeah…I was sort of…followed," I sigh, pointing at Owen, who is sleepwalking around in circles about 10 metres away, not a stitch of clothing on of course.

Heather lets out a shudder before continuing, "We need to talk strategy."

"And you thought the best time to talk was after 18 hours of sleep deprivation."

"Yes," Heather says sternly. "Everyone is so focused on staying awake that they won't even notice."

"Fine," I say, leaning against a tree. "What strategy have you cooked up?"

"Well, I trust you'll have no problem getting Owen's vote," she begins, and I nod in agreement. "But there's someone else I have in mind."

"And who would that be?"

"Katie."

"And how are we going to get her on our side?"

"That's where you come in," Heather says, an unkind smirk on her face. "Katie has a massive crush on you. She's even written fanfiction about you and her getting together."

"And you know about this, how?"

Heather sighs, putting her palm to her forehead, "I spent way too much time around Sierra during World Tour."

"Wasn't she in a threesome with Trent and Sadie?"

"I asked Sierra the same thing. She thought that you were gay. Can't imagine why."

"Charming," I say, folding my arms.

"Look, I just need you to flirt with her a bit," Heather says. "She's vulnerable at the moment, so you don't need to try too hard."

"Let's see…no, I'm taken!" I exclaim.

"Correction," she says, tapping my nose. "You _were_ taken. You-know-who won't be in the picture for a few more seasons."

I sigh, "This doesn't sit right with me."

"Well, tough luck, you're doing it anyway. Now shoo before anyone sees us," Heather hisses, before shoving me out of the bush.

Remind me why I'm in this alliance?

I sigh to myself. The way I see it – as long as Heather keeps trying to save her ass, I won't have a target on my back.

 **Bridgette's POV –**

Stay awake, avoid Geoff, stay awake, avoid Geoff, stay with Geoff, avoid…wait. My mind is a mess right now. Yeah, Bridgette, staying awake for a long time tends to do that to you.

"Who's out?" I jump when I hear Eva's voice behind me.

"W-what?" I say, turning to face her.

"I heard a ding when I left the bathroom stall," Eva says, pounding her fist into her palm. "Who's out?"

"I-I don't know. I…" Her question is answered as we spot Sadie passed out on the ground.

"Well, would you look at that?" Eva says, walking around Sadie with her head pointed down.

"Eva, don't get angry at her," I plead. "She tried her best. Just stay calm."

She steps away from Sadie and comes face to face with me.

"Don't you worry, _Bridge_ ," she says. "My anger management has considerably…improved."

She walks away to find another stump, and I am left stunned. Did that really just happen?

Where was I? Oh yes…

My blood boils just looking at Geoff. He and DJ are sitting on the ground nearby having a conversation.

That jerk is unbelievable. You'd think he'd have learned from the aftermaths. Fool me twice, asshole!

 **Geoff's POV –**

I inwardly sigh to myself for the umpteenth time as I half-listen to DJ.

"…and then I woke up. This whole time-travelling thing has got me going crazy. You know what I'm saying, dog?"

Darn it. How long had I been zoned out? I can't stop thinking about Bridgette. And how much I hate her. Yeah, screw that girl.

"Huh?" I say, my eyes going wide. "Oh, sorry dude. I drifted away for a bit…"

"No worries, man. The awake-a-thon is getting to me too. I feel like it's even harder the second time, even without the running and the carbohydrate…"

I let out a loud yawn and toss my head back, my eyes starting to shut…

I shake my head and say, "Whuh!"

I turn my eyes to DJ, observing the bags drooping from his lids.

"No offence, man, but you are boring me to death. Has Harold gone to sleep yet?"

We both look at Harold, who is sitting on a stump to the right. His fingers drum on his lap as he shakes relentlessly.

"Nope," DJ says. "Dude, you're not really suggesting we prank him again?"

"It could still be fun," I shrug. "It's something to do at least."

"I don't even wanna think about those pranks," DJ sighs. "We were dumb teenagers, huh?"

Buzzkill. There's no way I'm going to convince him though. Maybe Duncan is up for it?

 **Duncan's POV –**

Poor Harold. I mean, seriously.

He's sitting on his stump, shaking as sweat drips from his body, terrified that he might fall asleep at any second.

Man, I was such an asshole towards him. Yeah, he had his annoying moments, but he hadn't even done anything when we did the cup prank.

And did I really give a s**t that he left his underwear on the ground? It's not like we stopped bullying him after he apologised.

Urrrrgh…I may be able to change the past, but he will never forget that stuff.

I suppose it's the least of my worries…

"Yo, Duncan," Geoff says, walking over to me. "You, me, a cup of water?"

I shoot him a glare.

"You know what I'm talking about, right? For old time's sake!"

"Just f**k off, will you?" I snap.

Geoff's eyes go wide as he puts his hands up in the air and backs away.

Yeah, you better back off. Jesus, he's a grown man and he still wants to pull childish pranks? I don't even care if he does it again. At least it's not on my hands.

But I doubt he will. I know Geoff. He craves other people's approval. From helping me gang up on Harold, to being overwhelmed by fame in the Action aftermaths… he probably needs permission to breathe.

It's pretty clear he can't learn anything if he's been corrupted by money twice.

 **Lindsay's POV –**

"74…75…76…woah!" I explain, before my legs fall to the ground.

"Lindthay, I'm thtill the champion. You will not beat my 189 thecond handthtand," Beth giggles.

"Yes I will, I can try," I say, only to fall to the ground. I suddenly don't have the energy to try again. Now I laugh as well.

Me and Beth are rolling on the floor laughing. Wait, I mean the ground. The floor is inside the house. I knew that.

"Congratulations, campers!" Clint annunciates. "You've made it to the 24 hour mark."

"Did you hear that?" I ask Beth, squealing with delight. She joins in. We are both squealing with delight.

"Shush," Clint hisses at us. "Time to take things up a notch…fairy tales!"

"Oh no. Not thith part," Beth sighs, placing her hand on my arm.

"Why? I love fairytales," I say, turning to look at her.

"Well, thith one ith no Thnow White," Beth adds, turning her head to look back at me.

"Once upon a time…" Clint begins. "There was…inside this boring kingdom…a boring village…"

I've always wanted to own my own kingdom! I did say before that if I won the million dollars, I would buy France. I now know that France is actually a big country, and worth 15 million, I think.

But I could get a country in Africa. I know that girl Sierra from World Tour has one, because I've seen her name on the world map. And there's another one owned by a guy named Chad. The people would be so happy too. I've seen them on TV. They're so out of fashion – I mean, togas are so 2,000 years ago. And they never get food – I'd give them cake every single day!

What happened to Beth? She has glasses and braces. Did she get them off or not? She must be on the movie set…

 **Heather's POV –**

And with Lindsiot gone, our team is down to six, while the Bass still have eight people.

At least I'm still here. I'm pulling my weight. Hopefully everyone keeps that in mind if we go to elimination again.

I turn my attention to Noah, who fell asleep almost immediately after we had that secret meeting. Who does he think I am? As soon as he wakes up again, I'm going to give him a piece of my mind…

My thoughts are interrupted by a ding.

Cody has just fallen backwards off his stump, and passed out on the ground.

Hang on, I don't need to wait for that long…

 **Cody's POV –**

We gaze lovingly into each other's eyes, as she holds onto one of the toned triceps of my adult body.

I smile as I caress her curly black hair, which matches the colour of the sundress she wears for our picnic in this cloudy field.

"More yoghurt?" I ask her, holding up a spoon and bringing to her mouth.

"Yes please, Cody," she says seductively, taking the offer.

"You're welcome, Zola," I respond, before leaning in closer towards her. That's when I am interrupted by laughter. Laughter that is too familiar.

"Hee-hee-hee," Sierra giggles as she stands nearby.

"How did you get here!? I got a restraining order against you!" I yell at her.

"Oh, silly Cody," she giggles. "Restraining orders don't work in cloud-based terrain."

"Well, you're out of luck, Sierra! I've moved on!"

"No, Cody! Don't do it! Don't do it!" Sierra screams as I grab Zola and start making out with her. There's something quite delightful about hearing Sierra sob…

That's when everything goes dark. Who turned out the lights? I can still feel Zola's lips. Man, she is such a good kisser. I'm lucky to have bagged a girl like her.

That's when my eyes open. Wait, that's not Zola!

I let out a scream as Noah and I spring up off the ground and scream in each other's faces.

"Are you kidding me!?" Noah yells, cursing at the sky. "It happened again!?"

"And it was the lips this time!?" I yell back.

"I know that!"

"This can't have been a coincidence," I sigh. "Did you do that on purpose?"

"No! I have a girlfriend!"

"So do I."

With that, we turn away from each other and walk off.

It was hard enough living that down the first time. But now we were full on making out? My life is over.

 **Gwen's POV –**

I am going insane right now. It's just not the same without Trent by my side. He's still awake, but I can't go over to him. Where do we rebuild from?

And the 48 hour mark is signified by Chef suddenly popping out of nowhere in a ballerina costume, while one of the interns plays 'The Nutcracker' on a stereo.

There was actually a day between this bit and the fairytales, but they were edited back to back in the actual airing.

Speaking of editing, that magical 'fairy dust' that appeared on TV? It was actually chloroform powder. I assume they edited it to avoid legal issues, but considering what this show would end up getting away with, they needn't have worried.

Let's see how many people remember to hold their noses this time…

Chef starts at the far end of the Killer Bass side. He does his ballet dance, the dust flying everywhere. His victims don't realise what's going on in time, leaving Bridgette, Geoff and DJ all passed out on top of each other.

Next he ventures towards the Gophers. Trent and Leshawna are the first people he approaches, though both hold their noses in time and aren't affected.

Back to the Bass he goes, spreading the powder around Duncan and Eva, who smirk as they also block their sense of smell.

Courtney and Harold get the treatment next. They're safe too.

Uh-oh, Chef is back in our half, with dust landing around Heather and Beth. They hold their noses, but will it be enough?

And finally, he comes towards me. You know, seeing three people fall asleep at once really did get to me. They have it good. They're no longer in the challenge, and having their minds f**ked by their lack of sleep.

Maybe this is my time. Is that a good idea? I'm too tired to think about it.

Chef comes closer to me. You know what?

I take my finger and thumb away from my nose, and inhale as I am covered in the sleeping powder.

Sleeping

Powder

 **Leshawna's POV –**

The next two days were spent trying to clear each other of chloroform.

I was one of the unlucky ones who didn't hold their nose last time, but I wasn't going to let that happen again.

With Gwen gone, Trent and I were left to clean each other up. There was a lot of touching. Nothing too inappropriate, but it was still too weird for those two days to be aired. Sadly, Trent unheld his nose before it was safe, and he fell asleep.

And Heather didn't have Lindsay and Beth to help her this time, so she's out too, leaving me as the only person left for the Screaming Gophers.

I rest my eyes on the remaining Killer Bass. They have three people left. Duncan and Eva sit on one end of the stumps, while Harold sits in the centre, still looking visibly stressed. He's been like that for the whole challenge, and I'm not really sure why.

"What is the matter with you people?" Chris asks as he comes into view. "Come on, fall asleep already!"

"No!" Harold shouts back at him.

Chris shoots him a raised eyebrow before continuing, "Alright, you four stay with me. The rest of you go and get a shower for heaven's sake. You stink!"

He takes a sip of coffee. "I didn't want it to come to this. I said that to Chef last night. I said Chef, I don't want it to come to this but darn it, these campers are tough, and so, I've come up with the most boring, sleep-inducing activity I could find."

Chris takes out the infamous novel, "The history of Canada. A pop-up book, Chapter 1! The beaver – national symbol and a "dam" fine hat."

I let out a groan, as do Duncan and Eva, but Harold is staring up at the host with an amused smile.

 **Harold's POV –**

I don't get why everyone found this so boring last time. Canada has a very rich and interesting history.

We're the second largest country in the world, following Russia, and we have more lakes than any other country combined.

The War of 1812 is very fascinating if you take time to learn all the details. The naval blockades, the capture of Montreal…

"Time for a bathroom break!" Chris announces to us final tree. "Any takers?"

"Nope," Duncan says. "I'm all set."

"I'm good too," Leshawna adds.

I pause for a moment, "Better safe than sorry," I say, getting up from my stump.

"You've got five minutes," Chris says. "As long as you don't mind a little company."

 **Duncan's POV –**

Leshawna and I are left alone at the stumps.

I look over and shoot her a gaze, "How are you hanging in there, black girl?"

Leshawna's mouth goes open in shock, "Honey, you did not just say that."

"So it's only okay for y…"

I am interrupted by yet another ding, as an intern hands Chris a note.

"Mm-hm," Chris mutters. "Looks like Harold has taken a dive on the can. Only Duncan and Leshawna are left. Last one standing wins immunity."

Many of the contestants who were eliminated from the challenge have gathered around to cheer us on.

"Go Leshawna!" Katie cheers.

"You can do it, Duncan!" Geoff shouts.

They're everywhere. Cheering and shouting. Clapping their hands. Everyone is smiling. How nice. My eyelids have gone real heavy all of a…

 **Sadie's POV –**

"No, no, no, no, no!" I say aloud as Tyler puts his hand on my back.

"Ooh, looks like Duncan has fallen at the last hurdle," Chris says, shaking his head. "Which means the official winner of the Awake-a-thon is…Leshawna!"

He goes over to her and lifts her left arm, only for her to yawn before collapsing on the ground.

"Killer Bass, one of you is going home, so cast your votes at the confessional pronto."

Who to choose though? I mean, there's no real target this time.

* * *

 **Voting Confessionals**

 **Geoff: [points at the camera and frowns] Bridgette's gotta go!**

 **Courtney: As much as I want to get rid of Duncan, he's not exactly a weak link.**

 **I'm voting off Tyler. He's not smart, he's not athletic… everything about him screams cannon fodder**

 **Eva: Sadie was the first person to fall asleep. If I can't get angry at her in person, voting for her is the next best thing.**

 **Sadie: I'm voting off Courtney. She ganged up on me last time, and that's not happening again!**

 **Harold: There's no way Duncan is leaving, so his buddy Geoff is the next best thing.**

 **Izzy: I'm getting rid of DJ. I mean, can you imagine if he got eliminated tonight? Like, he hasn't done anything wrong so far. It'd be pretty funny if you ask me.**

 **Tyler: I vote for Izzy. The RCMP is going to come for her anyway.**

* * *

This is it. My first campfire ceremony. I hope my vote works. Surely more people will vote for Courtney. She did mess up a lot in this season,

"You've all cast your votes and made your decision," Chris says. "There are ten marshmallows on this plate. When I call your name, come up and claim your marshmallow. The camper who does not receive a marshmallow must immediately return to the Dock of Shame, catch the Boat of Losers and leave. And you can never come back…ever!"

"The first marshmallow goes to Duncan."

The delinquent has an emotionless expression as he goes to pick it up.

…

"Ezekiel."

…

"Geoff."

…

"Harold."

…

"Eva."

…

"Bridgette."

…

"DJ."

…

"Izzy."

…

"Courtney."

…

Uh-oh. My face falls as I watch Miss CIT herself come up to take her treat. I hope I haven't ruined my chances.

"Campers, this is the final marshmallow of the evening…"

Who could have possibly voted for me? What did I do? What did Tyler do? I can't believe it's come down to us so soon in the game.

We look at each other in shock. How did this happen? I can't leave now. I need to go far. I never got the chance before… so much for rubbing the money in Katie's face.

"Sadie."

I let out a deep breath of relief before looking at Tyler sympathetically.

"Tyler, the dock of shame awaits."

I get up and give Tyler a tight hug, "I'm so sorry you have to go."

Tyler chuckles, "It's okay. I was never going to win anyway."

Everyone waves him off, and then he walks off towards the Dock of Shame. He's gone.

 **Noah's POV –**

I forgot about how boring this island could get. With three days between each challenge, it's hard to pass the time.

We Gophers are just hanging around the porch, trying to process that we do not in fact have a hot tub in this alternate summer.

That's when I notice Heather get up and move to stand between me and Cody.

"Can I talk to you two in private?" she says, a smile on her face as she bends down to meet our gazes.

"Okay," Cody says uncertainly as she leads us off behind some bushes.

Her smile suddenly vanishes before our eyes.

"So, Noah, you thought you could get off doing your alliance duties?" she says, folding her arms.

"Alliance?" Cody repeats in concern.

"Cody, this is Heather. Heather, Cody," I sigh, gesturing with my right hand.

"Enough smart talk, Noah. I specifically asked you to start talking to Katie."

"I'm sorry, I was pretty tired when I got back, and…Katie was already asleep," I reply in defence.

"Well that's crap!" she says. "You fell asleep before her, and you lasted well over 24 hours the first time. I do not tolerate this, Noah."

"And what are you going to do about it?" I ask smugly.

"I've already done something about it," Heather replies. "You thought you could erase your infamous kiss with Cody from history?"

She did not…

"That was you!?" Cody shouts, his jaw dropped open.

"Yes, all my handiwork," Heather beams, her hands on her hips. "And next time, it will be 68 plus 1."

"68 plus…" Cody repeats, before his eyes shoot open. He grabs my right shoulder and gives me a shake. "Noah! Please just do whatever she says! No offence, but I don't want your..."

"Alright, alright," I groan, swallowing my pride. "I'll talk to Katie. But why did you drag Cody into this?"

"Because, Brainiac, I need all the votes I can get," Heather says with a devilish smirk. "If I have a chance to extend my blackmail, I'm going to take it."

With that, she confidently tosses her hair and struts off.

Cody gives me a disbelieving look, "You allied with **Heather**?"

"No more questions," I say, gritting my teeth as I too make my way back to the cabin.

* * *

 **Votes -**

 **Tyler (3) - Bridgette, Courtney, DJ**

 **Sadie (2) - Eva, Ezekiel**

 **Bridgette (1) - Geoff**

 **Courtney (1) - Sadie**

 **DJ (1) - Izzy**

 **Geoff (1) - Harold**

 **Izzy (1) - Tyler**

 ***Duncan didn't vote due to exhaustion**

 **And with regret, the second person eliminated is Tyler. I'll admit he did have potential, what with his quest to save Lindsay from her fate, but in an elimination with no clear target, it came down to whoever was seen as the weakest player (I think Courtney's voting confessional summed it up).**

 **And, yeah, just when you think Heather can't get any worse, she blackmails Cody and Noah into obeying her or else...I won't outright say what it is since this is a T-rated fic. I know I wasn't exactly cryptic, but if you don't know what she's talking about, you're probably not old enough to know.**

 **As before, please review whatever your thoughts and fav and follow if you haven't already. I'll see you next week :D**


	4. Episode 4

**What!? After just three chapters I already have 38 reviews, 25 follows and almost 1.5k views? That's insane! Thank you everyone for supporting this so far :)**

 **Sadie's POV –**

Everyone sits down for breakfast. And by breakfast I mean Chef's lumpy porridge.

Nobody feels like eating, and Harold's face is buried in his bowl.

I can't believe I almost got eliminated last night. And why Tyler? We'd become such good friends over the last week, and it really sucks to see him go.

Everyone is exhausted, special thanks to Harold's snoring, which was even louder this time. But nobody complains because they know he's going to save our asses in the next two challenges.

"Duncan!" Chris taunts, slipping over to the Bass table. "You look like death, dude."

Duncan doesn't say anything in response. He just stares back at Chris.

"Four nights with no sleep?" Chris continues. "How much are you hurting, dude?"

"A lot," Duncan sighs, before resting his head back down.

 **Harold's POV –**

I am exhausted. Like, I can barely keep my eyes open. I'm almost happy that I was a victim of the chloroform bloodbath the first time, because I feel indescribably crappy right now.

But I must stay focused. I must keep alert for Duncan at all times. I made sure I got up before him this morning so I could avoid the marker moustache incident.

"Hey, everyone, it's Leshawna!" Chris announces as the bodacious beauty herself comes trudging into the mess hall. Even after four days of sleep deprivation, she still looks stunning. I'm glad I still have time to win her back. I'm going to wait until the merge. Or season 2 if I don't make it that far. It will happen.

 **Courtney's POV –**

"Okay, campers, listen up. Your next challenge begins in ten minutes!" Chris announces. "And be prepared to bring it!"

"That reminds me," I say to the rest of my team. "I say we let our last three teammates sleep in shifts for this challenge. Harold can sleep for the first two, Duncan the last two, and Eva can get the one in the middle."

"No way. I'm not taking any naps today," Eva scoffs, folding her arms. "I'm playing all the games. You need me."

"I'll take Eva's slot," Duncan says quickly, slamming his hand in the middle of the table.

"Fine, whatever," I shrug.

"The extra REM should definitely aid me in my mad dodging skills," Harold comments in his usual creepy monotone.

Sadie shudders out loud, earning a frown from the alpha-geek.

 **Gwen's POV –**

I suppose it will be nice to do this challenge without wanting the world to burn. I was pretty good at this sport back in high-school. My twilight days of throwing balls at the cheerleaders' heads.

And by twilight, I mean I was a huge Twilight fan when I was a teen. Don't judge me.

"I hope that you'll play today," I hear Heather say to Noah. "Because it would really _suck_ if you didn't."

Noah gasps, followed by a whimper. I think that came from Cody, but I'm not bothered to turn around and check.

Chef blows his whistle and walks across the court, gritting his teeth as he gazes at each and every one of us 'unruly' teens.

"Looks like almost everyone is here," Chris states. "Bass, where's Harold?"

"He's taking a short nap back at the cabin," Courtney answers, raising her hand. "But he'll back for game number three."

"Okay…" Chris says awkwardly. "Today's challenge is the classic game of dodgeball. The first rule of dodgeball is…"

"Do not talk about dodgeball?" Noah and Heather say at the same time. The queen bee snorts as the know-it-all looks at her in disbelief.

"As I was saying," Chris continues. "If you get hit with the ball…"

He flings the ball at Courtney, who dodges, making it hit Bridgette smack in the stomach.

"Ouch!" she groans. She glares at Geoff who seems to think this is hilarious for some reason. Some boyfriend he is.

"If you catch the ball," Chris continues as Bridgette passes it back. "The thrower gets sent out, and the catcher gets to bring in another team member out on the court."

He holds the ball up high, "Okay now, Geoff. Try to hit me."

He passes the ball to the party animal, only for Chef to hand him another one.

"If you're holding a ball you can use it to deflect a ball but if it knocks the ball out of your hands, you're out!"

"I'm not sure I quite remember this," Lindsay says aloud. "Can you go through it one more time?"

"Let me put it simply," Chris says, putting a hand to his chin. "Throw ball, catch ball, dodge ball. You dodge!"

He flings his ball at Geoff, he deflects it, and it hits Lindsay smack in the face.

"Ooh," Chris winces. "You were supposed to dodge."

"Ow, right," Lindsay groaned as she feels her swollen forehead. "Not again."

"You have one minute until game time," Chris informs us. "Gophers, you'll have to sit one person out each game."

Great, this is the first typo that we'll have to suffer through this season. The first time, we assumed that he meant two people, so Noah and I sat out.

However, when we lined up, he told us that he misread the script and each game would actually be 5-a-side. It's just one of the many disorganised challenges this season. Wait 'til we get to the bike race.

 **Heather's POV –**

"Okay, guys," I say, putting my hands on my hips. "Not only do the Bass have Duncan and Harold, but this time, they still have Eva. No pressure."

Beth and Gwen give me unimpressed looks, but who cares? They're going home soon anyway.

"Who wants to play the first round?" I ask, and several people raise their hands. "Let's go with myself, Owen…"

"Who said you could decide?" Gwen interrupts.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I smile sweetly. "Would you like to do it instead?"

Gwen sighs in response.

"Good," I say. "With that out of the way – I say the round 1 line-up should be myself, Owen, Cody, Katie and…Noah."

"Um…my hand wasn't up," Noah remarks.

"Dude," Cody hisses, giving him a nudge.

"Alright, fine, I'll play," Noah groans, and then he gulps like there's a frog in his throat.

"What's wrong, Noah?" I tease. "Don't like getting balls in your face?"

"I said I'd play!" Noah snaps, dragging his feet across the court.

 **Owens' POV –**

Awesome! I was a master at this game the first time. Those fishy Bass are going down.

Jiminy Cricket! Why isn't Duncan asleep on the bench? And Eva is still in! Crap, crap, crap…

"Both teams ready? Best of five games wins!" Chris announces. "Now, let's dodge some balls!"

Balls…

No, Owen, get yourself together. That's unacceptable! Just wait another two or three years…

My troubled thoughts are interrupted when Chef blows the whistle.

I immediately spring into action and…

"Holy Simon Peter!" I cry. "Izzy!"

I just hit my girl straight in the chest, making her fall to the ground.

Okay, we haven't been together since the middle of World Tour, but still.

"I'm…I'm okay," she groans as she gets back up, only to fall to the ground again.

While I'm mourning my loss, I get bombarded by two balls to the face.

Chef blows the whistle, signalling that both teams are down to 4.

 **Eva's POV –**

"Nice one," I smirk, giving Duncan a high-five.

"Ya'll remember 'Crush the New Guy', right?" Duncan reminds us. "I assume you've seen the re-runs."

"I'm familiar with similar techniques," I reply. You should see what they do to the new people at the loony-bin. Or 'try to do' in my case. That creepy old man didn't see what was coming, heh, heh.

Cody tries throwing a ball at Duncan, but he fortunately dodges.

The four of us all look as each other before that scrawny dork gets pelted.

Katie is next to throw, successfully hitting Courtney, but while she is distracted by the high-fives, she becomes another victim of the 'juvie' way.

Just Heather and Noah left on their side.

Duncan aims at Noah, and the know-it-all screams and flinches, but at the last second he turns his hand and the ball hits Heather's arm.

"Ugh," she scoffs, stomping off. "Don't mess this up, Noah!"

Noah nods and gulps, before he turns to face the rest of us.

 **Noah's POV –**

F**k

F**k, f**k, f**k, f**k, f**k, f******k!

Hmm, maybe if I put my hands in front of my face, it won't hurt as much.

"Game over," Duncan cackles, and then he, Eva and DJ all try to ambush me at once.

That's when I suddenly find myself jumping into rapid sequence of three different, dodging all of the balls.

"Huh?" I say aloud, staring at my hands. What the heck did I just do? It was like that mini-challenge from the aftermath! Besides those flying aliens, but whatever.

"What? How did he do that!?" I hear Eva yell, gesturing her hands towards me as she looks at Duncan.

Duncan just shrugs before letting out a yawn, "Alright, Noah! Your move."

He's right. All the balls are on my side. There's nothing they can do.

I smirk, gather up all the balls and sit on the floor, my legs crossed like an Indian. Oh wait, I am Indian. Wait, does that phrase refer to Native Americans or…

"Don't just sit there!" Eva roars at me. "You chicken?"

"Hmm?" I respond. "Oh sorry, but I'm good here."

"REF!?" Eva screams at Chef, who looks up in shock from resting his eyes. "This is against the rules, right?"

"Huh?" Chef grunts, before his attention turns to me. He shrugs, "No rule against it."

"Ha," I smirk, folding my arms.

"Well, what's stopping us from crossing the court to get the balls?" Duncan asks.

"Hmm…" Chef ponders.

"The rules state that you can't throw from the other side of the court," Chris chimes in. "But crossing the boundary to grab the balls – that's totally okay."

Well shit.

Duncan, Eva and DJ all leap over the halfway point. Out of panic, I fling the six balls out of my arms and they fly in all directions.

Two of them hit the opposite wall, one of them hits Sadie on the bench, one almost gets Cody on our side, and one hits Eva in the stomach.

"Ouch!" she shouts as Chef blows his whistle. "Do you mind?"

"Sorry for playing the game," I shrug, narrowing my eyes.

Hang on, what happened to the sixth ball?

I look up and notice DJ grin at me, holding the ball in one hand.

The rest of the Bass cheer, and he and Duncan high five.

I smile and shrug as I make my way back to the bench.

"Nice playing, Noah," Heather frowns at me, her hands on her hips.

"Hey, I hit Eva didn't I?" I retort. "That's more than you can say. I believe I have earned myself a little bench time."

Heather rolls her eyes, "Fine. But just for the next game."

 **Katie's POV –**

The line-up for game number two is me, Trent, Beth, Owen and Cody against Bridgette, Ezekiel, Duncan, Eva and Sadie. Oh, hitting Sadie would be so

so

fetch.

Chef blows the whistle, and everyone gets to work. The number of balls has gone from six to eight, so I expect a little more chaos.

"Game on!" Owen yells running to grab two of the balls, hitting Bridgette and Eva.

I'm so glad he's on my side this time. He was terrifying last time.

"Grr…" I see Eva growl as she storms of the court. Okay, she's out of the way, so maybe we have a chance.

In the meantime, Trent throws a ball at Ezekiel who successfully catches.

"Hard luck, babe," I call out to him as he sighs and walks off the court.

Ezekiel grins and throws the ball under-arm style, barely reaching our side.

"That's a bowling throw, you dumb hick!" Eva yells at him from the bleachers.

I grab the ball and fling it at Sadie, who barely dodges it. I groan, but when I look up Duncan throws two balls my way.

I dodge the first one, but grin as I catch the second one. My face drops though when I notice the first one hit Beth.

Chef blows the whistle, and points at Leshawna. Still as groggy as this morning, and drags herself onto the court.

 **Ezekiel's POV –**

Let me give this a second try, eh?

I hold the ball to my chest and aim for Leshawna, successfully hitting her in the side.

"Yes! I've got it!" I cheer as Chef blows the whistle.

"Not quite. That throw is for basketball," Sadie giggles at me as we narrowly dodge a couple of throws from Owen. "Watch."

She demonstrates a throw, doing an over-arm arc and hitting Owen.

Chef blows his whistle, sending Owen off the court.

"Soooo…like a mountain?" I confirm.

"Yeah," she giggles. "Like a mountain."

"Lemme try," I say, picking up a ball and aiming it at Cody. It lands against the back wall and Cody runs to fetch it.

"Crap," Sadie groans. "Quick, aim for him again!"

"Why…"

"Just do it!" Sadie yells at me, and we both aim for Cody. Sadie successfully hits him, but not before he hurls a ball at my face.

"Ouch," I groan, when I feel something trickle down from my nose. I poke my finger inside my nostril in panic, only to gasp at the blood on my finger.

"Ew, Ezekiel!" Courtney exclaims. "Tilt your head back to stop the flow."

I'm about to obey her when Bridgette rushes onto the court. "No," she says in panic as she escorts me to the bleachers. "Don't do that. Here…"

She sits me down next to Izzy and tilts my head forward.

"Pinch your nose, and keep your head like that while someone gets tissue."

I nod as I do what she says.

"I'll get some," DJ offers, getting up from his seat and rushing off.

"Get Harold while you're at it!" Courtney shouts out the door to him.

"Oh, that reminds me," Duncan says as he flops down on the bench. "I'm done for the day."

 **Duncan's POV –**

"What?" Courtney whines in protest. "But…this game isn't over yet."

"There's two people left," I point out, looking over at Katie and Sadie, who seem to be in the middle of a screaming match. Mindless girl shit like 'this is for stealing my makeup' and 'this is for kissing Brad at the dance. "If one of them catches or gets hit, it's game over."

As if on cue, Sadie yells, "And this…is for putting your friends last!"

She hurls two balls at Katie, but the thin one smirks as she catches both, smirking as she tucks them against her chest.

Chef blows the whistle, and the Gophers cheer as they surround Katie.

"Now it's over," I smirk. "Time to catch a few z's."

 **Izzy's POV –**

"But…but…we just lost. The score is 1 all!" Courtney pleads as Duncan passes out on the bench.

"Relax, Courtney, it could be worse," I giggle, wrapping my arms around her shoulders. "We could be at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean with no breathing apparatus and cinderblocks tied to our feet!"

"Get off me!" Courtney cries as she tries to push me away.

"This way, Isabelle," Eva sighs, pulling me away.

I kick and scream as I try to get out of her grip. "Let me go! And how dare you reveal my true identity to the world!"

"It's pretty obvious," Courtney points out.

"Haha, I know. I was just kidding around," I giggle. "Now put me down."

Eva lets out a huff as my feet land on the ground.

"And where's DJ with Harold?" Courtney screams, shaking her fist at the ceiling.

 **DJ's POV –**

Tissue in one hand, I knock the door of the Bass cabin with the other.

"Yo, Harold!" I greet as I open the door.

"Waugh!" Harold cries as he leaps out of bed, still dressed in his regular clothes. "Oh, it's you. I mean, that's still not great. I would have preferred Ezekiel. But compared with Duncan and Geoff…"

"Harold, calm down," I chuckle. "We won't bully you. We're not kids anymore."

"Y-you won't?" Harold stammers, standing upright.

"Of course not," I reply, folding my arms. "Now come on, the team is counting on you."

"Right behind you, friend," he grins as I open the door.

"Yeah…don't overdo it," I frown as he closes it.

 **Cody's POV –**

"You were awesome out there," I hear Noah say to Katie as they sit together in the front row of the bleachers. "The way you kicked that girl's ass, real impressive."

"Thanks," Katie giggles. "You were pretty good yourself. And, yeah, she had it coming."

"What did she do anyway?" Noah asks.

"Oh, it was, like, so totally unfair," Katie groans, crossing her legs. She takes a pause, "You know what? I don't feel comfortable talking about it right now. You know, in front of everyone."

"I understand," Noah nods, and then he leans in closer and whispers something which I can't hear.

"Okay. After the challenge, maybe," Katie giggles.

Well, that was easy. No, really, Katie will trust someone that easily? Heather sure did her research.

 **Lindsay's POV –**

"I'm going to play this round!" I explain, standing up and squinting at Heather.

"Fine by me," Heather shrugs as we walk onto the court together. Also playing this round are Cathy, Glen and Owen.

"Bass, can you hurry up!?" Clint shouts at the other team. "This is a half-hour show."

"We are sorry," Courtney says. "It is…very difficult to decide!"

Her face looks really stiff, like she just got Botox. She kind of looks prettier that way.

"You have ten seconds," Clint sighs.

"What!? Courtney progresses, before groaning. "Fine."

She points at Satan, who devilishly grins and walks onto the court. The Bass also have Lizzie, Jed, and this big scary girl. But I haven't a clue what her name is.

Chef blows the whistle, and the game starts.

 **Trent's POV –**

I let out a cheer from the bleachers as I watch Owen and Gwen massacre Geoff. That one should get a slow-mo replay.

"You can do it!" I shout.

"We're here, we're here!" I hear DJ shout as he and Harold rush into the court.

"Where are have you been? We're already down two players!" Courtney screams at them, before a ball hits her neck, courtesy of Katie.

If Courtney was on my team, I'd vote her off on day 1. I'll never forgive her for how she hurt Gwen.

"Ugh!" she yells. "Just get on the court, Harold!"

"Up-bup-bup!" Chris exclaims. "Not until someone catches the ball."

While we Gophers still have all five of our players, the Bass are down to Izzy and Eva. The two of them double high-five before getting down to business.

They both arm themselves with two balls each and pelt Heather. Most of them miss, but when she uses another ball to deflect, she accidentally drops it.

Their next target is Lindsay. I can't watch. If she gets hit as badly as last time.

"Weeeeeee!" she squeals, leaping out of the way.

Eva lets out a groan of frustration. "Again," I hear her grunt.

 **Geoff's POV –**

And that's it for Gwen. Darn shame.

"Come on, girls, you can do it!" I cheer from the bleachers.

What follows is a massacre carried out by both sides; Katie and Owen fighting the battle against our ladies, though I can't help but notice some hesitation coming from the big guy.

And Chef's whistle signals the end for Katie and Izzy.

"Don't worry, guys," Eva grins. "I've got this. It'll be like elephants in a…"

She is interrupted when a ball lightly hits against her leg.

The Bass looks to the right in unison to see Lindsay smiling awkwardly with her fingers to her mouth.

Chef blows his whistle, signalling the end of that game.

"UGH!" Eva screams, kicking the ground so hard that she makes a pretty big dent.

 **Beth's POV –**

Time for round 4. Just one more and the Gophers win.

Bridgette, DJ, Ezekiel, Eva and Harold against Trent, Cody, Owen, Noah and I.

Heather tried to convince Katie to play another game, but she said she had a bad bruise and needed to sit one out.

The way she said it sounded really suspicious. I think she just wanted everyone to have another game without making the Dragon Queen angry.

Chef blows his whistle, and the game begins.

Let's get started.

Within seconds it's a battlefield. Balls flying left, balls flying right, centre, front, back…any direction you can think of.

I almost get hit by Bridgette but I barely dodge, pick up the ball and aim for DJ. He tries to catch it but instead fumbles a bit before dropping it.

The Bass haven't actually hit anyone yet, but Harold and Ezekiel catch balls at the same time. We've lost Owen and Cody already, and the Bass now have Geoff and Courtney back on the court. A total of six players!

We are so dead…

Okay, Trent got Bridgette, that's good.

I'll give this another go. Bye-bye Courtney.

They still have Ezekiel and Harold though. How do we get rid of them? They're both masters at catching.

"Noah, a little help here?" Trent asks the know it all, who is standing at the back with his arms folded.

"Ugh, fine," Noah groans, passively picking up a ball and shutting one eye as he aims it at Ezekiel. The home-schooled boy looks down in shock as it hits his leg.

"Woah, how did you do that?" I ask, open mouthed.

"I dunno, a study of the angle?" Noah shrugs.

Trent nods in amazement, losing focus long enough to be struck in the head by Eva. It's apparently so hard that he falls to the ground unconscious.

"Trent, are you okay?" I hear Gwen cry as she runs over to pull him away.

Great, just us two scrawny nerds against an iron woman and a figure skater

"No mercy," Eva says aloud as she hurls a ball in my direction. Noah and I jump out of the way, but he ends up in the spot where I started.

"Ouch! Dang it!" he groans, making his way back to the bleachers.

Only I am left. Me. Against Eva. And Harold too but he can't throw to save his life. I mentally say my prayers and pick up a ball.

 **Owen's POV –**

Nobody can bear to look as three balls are fired at Beth all at once. That'll leave terrible bruises on her leg and her hip.

If that's not enough, one of the balls hit her smack in the face, knocking one of the lenses out of her glasses.

Those Bass have gone one step too far. They mess with one Gopher, they mess with the rest!

"That is it!" I shout. "I'm playing the last game and that's final."

"You're the best player so, psh, whatever," Heather scoffs at me. "Who else is up?"

"Totally not me," Katie says, rubbing her leg. "I am still, like, totally bruised."

"That's funny. I could have sworn you said the bruise was on your hip," Heather says suspiciously, folding her arms. "Get up!"

 **Bridgette's POV –**

I unfortunately didn't quite make the cut for this last game, but it was agreed that I would be first reserve if someone caught the ball, so maybe I'll have a chance?

The Bass continue with Duncan's 'crush the new guy' strategy long after he took to the bench, but the Gophers have since adapted to this strategy.

Still, that's the end for Katie.

Izzy and Eva fist bump each other as they both aim for Owen. He somehow manages to dodge, and screams as he runs to pick up three more balls, successfully getting Eva and Harold out.

"Ugh, I hate this game!" Eva screams as the two of them stomp to the bench.

On the bright side, Ezekiel catches a ball thrown by Heather, meaning the queen-bee is out, and I, the surfer girl, am back in.

"Welcome back," Sadie greets as she tosses me a ball.

"Thank you," I nod, before hurling the ball and successfully getting Lindsay.

"Eeek!" she screams. I got her right in the face. Now she has two bumps on her face. At least that's one less than last time.

"Crap! Sorry!" I call out. Lindsay gives me a smile and a wave as she sits down on the bleachers.

"THAT'S! NOT! ENOUGH!" Owen screams, proceeding to hurl more balls. There was no way to escape it. The road ends for Sadie and Ezekiel.

It's me and Izzy versus Big Owen. And also Gwen, who seems to just be hanging out in the corner and waiting for things to end.

"Nobody maims a team-mate's face!" he yells at me, preparing to throw his ball.

"Wait!" Izzy exclaims, jumping up in front of me. "If you want her, you'll have to get through me."

Owen's confident grin falls. He shakes slightly in hesitation.

"I…I don't know if I can do this!" he cries.

The two of us smirk at each other and are about to throw when a ball hits Izzy, bounces off of her, and then hits me.

Gwen. How did we not see her coming?

"Niiiice! Two bass with one stone," Chris says in admiration. "The Screaming Gophers win!"

"No-no-no-NOOOOOOOO!" Izzy screams, falling to her knees and pulling on her hair. "I can't stand for it! I won't! You hear me? I won't!"

 **Leshawna's POV –**

All around me I hear cheering and screaming.

What happened? I must have drifted off.

"Uh…did we win?" I groan, my sight still blurry.

"Yes!" Heather cheers, sitting down beside me to give me a hug. "We did it! We're going to survive the next three days. Isn't that awesome?"

I am way too tired to get angry so I just give in.

"Yeah," I reply, hugging Heather back. "It's absolutely awesome."

* * *

 **Voting confessionals –**

 **Bridgette: I'm voting for Geoff. This isn't because of a grudge or anything. I just think he did the least in the challenge.**

 **Courtney: I might be wasting my time voting for Duncan, but he was asleep for half the challenge so…it could happen.**

 **Ezekiel: I vote for Courtney. She barely did anything other than the sleeping rota, which didn't help at all.**

 **Izzy: I'm not really sure. Oh, why not go with DJ again? It will be the best laugh ever if I actually get him eliminated.**

 **Duncan: I vote for Bridgette. Not only will she prove a major klutz this season, but Geoff might be just a bit less annoying with her gone.**

 **Eva: I'm voting off Ezekiel. Sure, he did catch some balls here and there, but I can't get over that bowling throw.**

 **It's pretty clear he's not fit to be in the real world.**

* * *

 **Ezekiel's POV –**

We ten Killer Bass sit on tree stumps before Chris McLean, breathless as we are soon to become nine.

I think I should be safe tonight. I did pretty well in the challenge, catching balls for my team. Then again, the nosebleed is not in my favour. Or maybe the sexist comments will come back to bite me in the ass? I guess I'll wait and see.

"Campers," Chris says. "You've already placed your votes and made your decision. One of you will be going home, and you can't come back. Ever!"

"When you hear me call out your name, come pick up a marshmallow."

…

"Izzy."

…

"Harold."

…

"Sadie."

The almost eliminated girl from last time lets out a gasp when she realises she was called out this early.

…

"Eva."

…

"Duncan."

…

"DJ."

…

"Ezekiel."

Phew. I made it through round 3. Like those before me, I also go over to the podium to claim my marshmallow.

…

"Courtney."

Shoot, and I voted for her too. Just the lovebirds left. Except that they've been acting pretty distant ever since we got here. I'm not sure what's going on, but then again, when am I sure?

"The final marshmallow goes to…"

I can whispers and mutters coming from the other safe campers. I assume it's hope and speculation of who will be safe among the two.

I hope Bridgette gets to stay. She did help me out when I got that nosebleed.

…

"Geoff."

The party animal tips his hat and flashes a grin as he gets up and claims the last piece of confectionery on the plate.

"Huh? I can't believe it," Bridgette says. "What did I do wrong?"

"What didn't you do wrong?" Geoff remarks, chomping on his marshmallow.

"You watch it…" Bridgette snaps at him, when Duncan jumps up between the two.

"Okay, she's eliminated. You don't need to rub it in," he says. "Sorry, Bridgette. It's just how things ended up."

Bridgette shakes her head before walking over to the dock.

That's when I find myself running after her.

"Uh, thanks for helping me with the nosebleed. Eh?"

She looks at me in confusion, and then smiles, "You're welcome. It was really no biggie."

With that, she disappears onto the Boat of Losers. She left the island.

Did I really just say that? I just chased after her over a nosebleed. Sometimes I worry myself.

I notice my face getting slightly warm as I join the others back at the campfire.

Sadie stands next to me and chuckles lightly as she roasts her marshmallow.

"What?" I ask with a raised eyebrow.

 **Geoff's POV –**

So…looks like home-school has taken a liking to Bitchette. Can't say I'd be surprised if she went for him. After losing me, her standards are at an all-time low.

Who voted for me though? Everyone knows I'm a valuable player. I bet home-school did it, just out of spite. And he probably got that fat bitch Sadie on his side as well. I've noticed them talking a lot lately. He is so going down!

"Yo, dude, something on your mind?" DJ asks, turning to look at me.

"Huh? Oh no," I say. "I mean, for a second I thought I'd be voted off. Totally would have been a bummer."

"Uh-huh. I hear ya."

 **Noah's POV –**

"…then we both knocked each other out, and I woke up back in time," Katie says as we sit together behind the Gopher cabin. "So, yeah, that's the whole story."

Oh my God, she's done? That was a solid fifteen minutes of her babbling while I nodded or said 'mm-hmm' every few seconds. Can I remember enough of it?

"That's unbelievable," I say.

"I know, right?" Katie says, crossing her arms.

There's a bit of awkward silence. Come on, couldn't you have given me more to work with?

"You're an independent woman, and you should be able to make your own life choices," I say, pounding my fist into my palm. I do my best not to sound sarcastic, but I think she's buying it.

"Yeah," she nods. "If Sadie can't support me, then maybe she's no real friend of mine."

Alright, do I sound nuanced, or suck it up? I need to make a decision fast…

"She might still be a friend, just not a…close one," my voice drops a bit as I try to process what I am saying. What am I doing? I'm supposed to be her love interest, not her therapist.

Katie seems to have trouble taking this in.

"Oh," she says. "So what you're saying is even if we've had our differences, I shouldn't be hostile back?"

"Uh…sure," I nod. "If that's what you feel is right, of course."

"That is, like, so true." This seems to have blown her mind. "Thanks, Noah. You really helped me out there."

I barely said or did anything but you're wel…and now she's pulling me into a tight hug. I must suck it up, otherwise I'll be sucking something else entirely.

Help.

* * *

 **Votes -**

 **Bridgette (3) - DJ, Duncan, Geoff**

 **Geoff (2) - Bridgette, Harold**

 **Courtney (2) - Ezekiel, Sadie**

 **DJ (1) - Izzy**

 **Duncan (1) - Courtney**

 **Ezekiel (1) - Eva**

 **And in another tight elimination, Bridgette is unfortunately voted off. Once again there was no clear target, and she just got dealt the bad hand. Also, I thought it would have been too obvious to get rid of Geoff this soon.**

 **As always, please review whatever your thoughts and fav and follow if you haven't already. I'll see you next week :D**


	5. Episode 5

**Hello, it's me again, dropping another weekly update. Unfortunately, it's probably the last weekly update in a while since I haven't written ahead, but stay tuned ;)**

* * *

 **Courtney's POV –**

It's still dark when I wake up. I already tossed and turned all night trying to get to sleep.

I'm really annoyed at myself. I just had to let my emotions get in the way. When it comes down to it, nobody else cares how much Duncan hurt. They just care about getting farther in the game.

I should have voted for Geoff. He didn't get anyone out for the entire challenge to my recollection, be it by throwing or catching.

My emotions got Bridgette out. She was the only person who I could talk to on this island – not just now, but the first time as well. I never really got along too well with the other girls, but she was a good listener and could be a lot of fun.

I'm not sure whether or not my vote for Geoff would have made any difference, but I can tell the voting was close. There were, like, four or five people left when Duncan's name was called out, so loads of people must have gotten votes.

I'm not spoiled for choice now. Izzy's a psycho and Eva's an athletic psycho. I guess that leaves…

"Huggggh-ei-ei-ei-ei-ei-ei. Hugggggh-ei-ei-ei-ei-ei-ei."

Ugh, Sadie's been doing that since we got here. Why? She never did that last time. Is this something to do with her fight with Katie? Is she suppressing something? I don't know.

 **Beth's POV –**

Oh my God. What did she do to herself?

"Hi Beth," Lindsay greets as she sits next to me in the bleachers of the amphitheatre. Her skin is bright orange. People at the time would have said she looks like an Oompa-Loompa. How times have changed, am I right?

"Hi Lindthay," I say. "Are you doing anything for the challenge?"

"Uh, I guess, if it's for a million dollars," she replies.

"Oh, tho you have a talent thith time?" I ask.

"What?" she asks. "Oh, this is the talent contest. I might have something, but, I'm not sure."

 **Lindsay's POV –**

I am so embarrassed right now. I want to put a plastic bag over my head.

After running out of fake tan so quickly last season, I made sure to pack enough to last the next two seasons. But, I dunno, I drifted off while putting it on this morning. I look in the mirror, and I'm like that Ronald Grump guy who's always on the TV.

If I act like nothing is wrong, maybe nobody will point it out and they'll soon forget about it.

I don't have time to worry about this stuff. With Tyler gone, I'm my only hope of winning.

 **Ezekiel's POV –**

"…so then my underwear got nailed to the wall, and I was stuck in a wedgie position for half an hour before the janitor cut me loose…"

Here's how I spent my morning; listening to Harold's high-school sob stories. It's been almost a decade, get over yourself.

"You know, you're kind of lucky you never had to deal with this stuff," Harold says to me.

Yes, because getting a few wedgies is so much worse than being turned feral and forced to survive in the Canadian wilderness. Go f**k yourself.

We reach the amphitheatre, and sit down next to Geoff. He takes one look at me and proceeds to move forward one row. What's his deal?

"Welcome to our brand new, deluxe, state of the art, outdoor amphitheatre!" Chris announces, taking to the stage. "Okay, this week's challenge is a summercamp favourite... a talent contest!"

"Yes," Harold says beside me.

"Each team has eight hours to pick their three most talented campers. These three will represent them in the show tonight. Sing, dance, juggle, anything goes as long as it's legal!"

"Darn it," Eva groans.

"You'll be judged by our resident talent scout, former DJ, VJ and rap legend, Grandmaster Chef!" Chris continues. "Who will show his approval via the Chef-o-meter."

"Why is the Chef-o-meter out of nine?" Harold whispers to me. "Aren't most ranking systems out of 10?"

Don't know, don't care.

"The team that loses will send one camper home tonight. Good luck."

 **Leshawna's POV –**

"Here's how things should work," Heather announces to the rest of team. "Each candidate performs one by one, and we all take a vote. Whoever gets the most yes' wins."

Heather may still be trying to play us, but if it means she's not bossing us around like she owns the place, I won't complain.

"Yeah, no," Gwen says, standing up. "I can't be bothered to sit through all of these. See you later."

The rest of us watch as she walks off.

"With Justin gone, we're going to need a new act," Heather says. "Anyone want to give it a go?"

"Wait a minute," I say, standing up. "Who said you could take part?"

"Why? Do you have a problem with it?" Heather asks.

"Don't play innocent," I say sternly, pointing my finger at her.

Heathers narrows her eyes, "If you're talking about the diary thing, I have moved on from such childish schemes. You have nothing to worry about."

"Uh-huh," I reply, unconvinced.

"Besides, the other team has Harold. We're going to have to work super hard to beat them. Do we really want to take any chances?"

I roll my eyes, "Fine, but I've got my eye on you!"

"Speaking of which, I'd like to sign up," I continue. "Those Bass won't know what hit 'em when they're up against my dance moves."

"Let me think, no," Heather replies, folding her arms.

"I thought you said this was a vote."

"You're right," she grins, turning to look at the others. "Raise your hand if you think Leshawna should represent us at the talent contest."

Not one person puts their hand up. They all just look around awkwardly. After a couple of seconds, Owen raises his hand with a cheesy grin.

"Nice try," I say snarkily. He sighs and puts his hand back down.

"Looks like we're giving you the boot," Heather says, hands on her hips. "Who's next?"

 **Duncan's POV –**

"Alright, people, we've got four acts to choose from," Courtney announces, gathering us all together. "Obviously Harold's beatboxing is in, and I'd also like to think my violin playing is up to standard. Who should our third act be?"

"I'd like to pull out," DJ says, raising his hand. "I haven't touched a stick-ribbon in years. I wouldn't know where to start."

"Very well," Courtney says. "Geoff?"

"Yeah, I could pull it off," Geoff says proudly as he adjusts his hat. "I got back into skateboarding after winning Ridonculous Race."

"So you won a reality show before this one?" Izzy giggles.

"Uh…no," Geoff replies, raising an eyebrow.

"I know," Izzy says with a creepy smile.

"Alright, it's settled," Courtney says in satisfaction. "Which means we have extra time to practise."

"So what are the rest of us supposed to do?" Eva asks, her hands in the air.

"We get the day off," I say, putting my hands behind my head. "And Courtney, if you ever feel you need a break…"

"Hon, don't even go there!" Courtney snaps.

"Can't blame me for trying," I chuckle.

"You are one sick man," Eva comment, before walking off.

 **Katie's POV –**

" _Badag-e chumchu gi_

 _One two three!_

 _Smile!_

 _Have fun!_

 _Taeyang-i yeogie eobsda_

 _Smile_

 _Have fun!_

 _ige choegoui bam-iya!"_

I take a bow and am met with some applause.

It shouldn't be any surprise that I love anything related to Korea. Whenever I sing k-pop, it's like I'm transported to another place.

"It was good," Heather tells me. "But we already have one singing act, and no offence, but I think we have a better chance with Trent."

I look at the others, but they all look away.

"Oh well," I sigh, sitting back down next to Noah.

"If it makes you feel better, I would have raised my hand," he says.

"Thanks," I giggle. "Do you have a talent?"

"No," he says. "Unless you want to see a dissection on stage."

"Haha, you're so funny."

I really feel a connection with Noah that I never noticed before. I'm excited to see where this leads…

"Who's next?" Heather asks aloud.

After a couple of seconds, Lindsay raises her hand.

"What's your talent – making chocolate?" Heather asks.

A few of us snort at this.

"No. I have…uh…something else in mind," Lindsay replies, now looking rather sheepish.

 **Cody's POV –**

I have to cross my legs as Lindsay gets herself prepared. I'm worried about what will happen if I don't.

She's dressed in a black two piece, and has just stuck a wooden pole in the ground.

She signals to Beth, who looks uncertain as she switches on the boombox. A seductive tune plays.

Lindsay begins with her back to us, rested against the pole.

She uses the pole to swing herself to the front, bringing her right leg up to her shoulder.

Keeping this position she swings around and around, before lifting off the ground and spinning sideways.

I think I can speak for all the guys when I say we were awe-struck.

 **Lindsay's POV –**

I tried to be a stripper before I took my...uh…current career path. I got an audition with an agency, and I spent weeks perfecting my moves, but on the day…

My thoughts are intrarupted when the pole flops to the side. I lose grip and am sent tumbling across the ground.

"No!" I scream. That's exactly what happened the first time.

I look up, and everyone is applausing. They liked it?

"That was amazing!" Kayleigh squeals.

"Girl, you got moves," Lenisha adds, before letting out a whistle.

"It's all well and good," Heather says. "But how are we going to stop her from falling over?"

"We need something more sturdy," Brent says, getting up and walking over. "But what?"

"The prop shed!" Owen explains. "That's where we found the bucket and chain for Justin's act."

"Sounds good," Heather says. "Owen, you get the props and the rest of us can practise."

"Alright!" Owen cheers. "You coming, Noah?"

"I'll go with you!" Cole shouts, getting up from the perch. "I mean, I'll go find the props with you. Noah looks a little…busy."

He's right. Noah seems to be hitting it off with Kayleigh right now.

"Whatever," Owen shrugs, and he and Cole leave.

"Did I make it?" I ask hopefully.

"Probably," Heather replies. "But it won't be your fault if we don't."

I take a deep breath and let out a high-pitched, excited squ…

 **Sadie's POV –**

With Geoff, Courtney and Harold busy practising, the rest of us sit in a loose circle backstage.

"So bored," Izzy sighs, lying flat on the ground to my left.

"Me too. It's not the same without Bridgette around to screw things up," Duncan agrees.

"So far, downtime is a disappointment," Eva groans.

"We could play truth or dare," I suggest.

"Ah, what the heck?" Duncan shrugs, sitting up.

"There's nothing better to do," DJ adds.

"What are the rules?" Ezekiel asks.

The rest of us look at him and snigger.

"What? You expected me to know?" he chuckles.

"Okay, we take turns asking people if they want to answer a personal question, or do something, well…how would I describe it?" I giggle, lost for words.

"Y'know what? He'll pick it up after a couple of rounds," Duncan says. "Let's just start."

"Okay," I reply. "DJ, truth or dare?"

"Truth," DJ says, folding his arms.

"If you could date any girl on the island, who would it be?"

DJ thinks about it, "Leshawna. She's got uh…spunk. Yeah, that's it. But I'm not too interested in any girl here. It's just none of them quite fit my type, you know?"

 **DJ's POV –**

I lied.

I couldn't date Leshawna. She's like a sister to me.

I'd really have gone with Katie. I think she's cute and I like her energy. I might have asked her out if she hadn't been so obsessed with Trent.

But I couldn't say that in front of Sadie. She could have killed me on the spot.

"Duncan, truth or dare?" I ask.

"Dare," Duncan replies.

"Hmm…" I say, thinking for a moment. "I dare you to steal Beth's hair-tie."

"What?" Duncan says in amusement, and the others also laugh a bit. "Okay, I'll see what I can do."

 **Owen's POV –**

"Pole, pole," I mutter to myself as Cody and I look through the prop shed. "Where to find a pole?"

"Nope, not here," Cody sighs, looking under one of the tables. "Where have we not looked yet?"

"Have you tried that box?" I ask, pointing at a wooden crate in the corner.

"No," Cody replies, kneeling down and taking off the lid. "I don't see any…"

He gasps as he looks down at his arms, which have brown ants crawling on them. He lets out a groan, "Ohhhhh," before falling to the ground.

"Great Gatsby!" I cry. "Man down!"

Wait, I remember this. Sierra said during World Tour that Cody was triggered by several types of ants, and he had an epi-pen. I guess I better take him to the medical tent.

…

I'm out of the shed and carrying Cody over my shoulder fireman style. Only problem, I have no idea which way the tent is.

I can see Beth and Leshawna running over. Maybe they'll know.

"Hey, girls!" I call out, waving my hands. "Wait up!"

I huff and puff as I run after them.

"Hey, nice hair," I compliment as I get beside them. "Do you know where the…"

"Not now, Owen," Leshawna groans. "That Duncan just stole Beth's ponytail, and ripped out MA WEAVE! He is so getting it!"

"Oh my gosh! Ith Cody alright?" Beth asks, turning her head.

"Yes. He fainted while we were in the shed," I explain. "Which way is the medical tent?"

"Uh…I think it'th thomewhere outhide the foretht," Beth replies.

"Outside the forest. Gotcha," I reply, before going off in another direction.

 **Heather's POV –**

I like my odds of sticking around at the moment, thanks to me having control of half the team's votes.

But I'm not completely safe yet. I need the majority to stay.

That's where Gwen's diary comes in. If I steal it again and blackmail her into reading it, I might just get her vote on my side.

I arrive back at the cabin and push open the door. I don't have someone to guard the door, since Cody has gone off with Owen and I can't risk splitting up Noah and Katie. What can you do?

Now, where to look? I start off with the drawer where it was last time, in case Gwen is actually...

Yes! She was dumb enough to put it into the same place. That was too easy, I can't...

Wait a minute, where all the pages?

I open the journal and find that most of the pages have been torn out. On the inside cover there's a sticky note that says 'Nice try Heather :P'

That bitch! How dare she insult me like that! What a...

My inner rage is interrupted when Gwen walks in.

"Gwen!" I say in panic. "It's so good to see you."

She looks at me for a second before bursting out laughing.

"Haha. I can't believe you actually fell for that," she roars, clutching her stomach. "You are so predictable."

Gwen, if only you knew...

"For your sake, give up while you're ahead," she continues, draping a towel over her back while she changes into her swimsuit. "If you don't mind, I'm going for a swim."

She smirks at me as she walks back out.

Wait a minute...

I pick the diary up out of the drawer.

... I have a better idea.

 **Izzy** **'s POV**

The rest of us are splitting our sides as Duncan comes back with Beth's hair thing in one hand, and Leshawna's extensions in another.

"Ho ho, I only asked for Beth's tie, but nice touch," DJ says.

"Have I ever played by the rules?" Duncan laughs, dropping the hair pieces on the ground.

"Your turn," I say.

"Alright," he responds, sitting back down. "Ezekiel, truth or dare?"

"Uh... truth," Ezekiel replies reluctantly.

Duncan takes a moment to think about his question, "What was the weirdest thing you saw on Revenge of the Island?"

"Where do I start?" Ezekiel sighs. "I had just got back to the island after the boat sailed past, eh. So I'm walking through the forest when I see this green mutant thing with long hair and giant lips. She sees and me and chases after me. So I run maybe a kilometre when she jumps on me and, I dunno, she was...kinda...grinding me in the butt."

"Holy s**t," DJ says, his hand over his mouth.

"I try to break free, but next thing she explodes, and I'm covered in green goo. It was... bizarre."

"Ooh, just like Golden Girls," I giggle.

"Huh?" DJ says, facing me.

"That's insane," Duncan says in awe.

"At the same time, I'm glad it never aired," Sadie giggles. "Zeke, it's your turn."

"Who do I ask?" Ezekiel asks.

"Anyone," Sadie replies.

"Hmm... Izzy, truth or dare?"

"Dare! Dare!" I exclaim, bobbing up and down.

"Alright, eh, let me think."

We are interrupted when Leshawna runs over, with Beth panting behind. Her hair is down to the side.

"Nice hair, Beth. It's a good look for you," I say, snapping my fingers.

"There you are!" Leshawna screams, pointing a finger at Duncan. "Gimme back my weave!"

"Take it," Duncan shrugs, standing up to hand it to her.

Leshawna frowns as she snatches it back.

"And my... hair bobble?" Beth adds, still out of breath. Duncan sighs as he also hands over that.

"Don't f**k with me," Leshawna concludes, before marching off, with Beth walking beside her.

 **Owen's POV**

I look over Cody as he lies motionless on a stretcher in the medical tent.

"Is he gonna be alright?" I ask Chef.

"Between the shock and the allergic reaction," Chef replies. "He'll be back on his feet by dusk."

"Okay, okay," I sigh. I still need to find a suitable pole for Lindsay. That's when my eyes lock on the rods holding up the tent. By George, I've got it!

"Where is that intern with the epipen?" Chef growls, marching out of the tent.

I can do this. But I need to be quick...

 **Gwen's POV**

"I've got it!" Owen shouts as he runs over carrying a metal pole. "Lindsay, this is for you."

"Really? Thanks Owen, you're the best," Lindsay squeals.

"Where's Cody?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

"He's at the medical tent. It's a long story," Owen replies.

"He opened a box-full of ants and fainted. Not exactly a full-length novel," Noah says from the back row. He has his arm around Katie, who giggles lightly.

"Oh God, I hope he's okay," I say in concern.

"Chef said they've got his epi-pen, and he'll be back by the evening," Owen shrugs.

"It _is_ evening, Owen," Leshawna points out.

"Late evening, maybe?" Owen says optimistically.

…

"It's the TDI talent extravaganza! Welcome to the very first Camp Wawanakwa talent contest, where six campers will showcase their mad skills and desperately try not the humiliate themselves. First up for the Screaming Gophers…is Heather."

Us Gophers start to cheer for her. Except for Leshawna, who folds her arms. Come on, girl, I know she's a snake but she's barely done anything so far.

The curtains open, and soft piano music plays as Heather begins her piece.

To her credit, her dance skills have improved since the first time. She does spins that last at least 10 seconds at a time, and even manages to leap from one end of the stage to another. It's pretty clear she kept on ballet after all these years. Figures she'd have daddy's trust fund to pay for her hobbies.

"Nice moves, bra," Chris says, coming back onstage once she's done. "And it looks like Grandmaster Chef agrees."

After each act, Chef, who sat on the side of the stage, would hold up a cardboard thermometer coloured with marker (in this case showing 7 segments). I guess they decided that was too messy, because in the TV version he was edited out and replaced with the digital Chef-o-meter.

"First up for the Killer Bass, make some noise for the party dude," Chris announces. "Geoff!"

 **Geoff's POV –**

Ah, back when they got my label right. I'm so sick of fan-sites claiming that I'm the 'Funniest Guy Around'. Any moron can see they got Owen's label and mine mixed up in that one promo.

Time to show those Gophers who's boss!

I ride my board onto the stage while DJ and Duncan set up some ramps.

"Check this out!" I exclaim. I gain some speed and skate up one of the ramps, spinning the board in the air as I do so. Next, I move to the larger ramp on the other side of stage, doing a handstand while I kick the board about in the air.

Unfortunately, the board falls over and rolls slowly across the ground. It's okay, play it cool, play it cool.

I run over to the board, and give it a couple of spins in the air before holding it under my foot.

"Not bad, not bad at all," Chris comments, walking back onstage while Chef holds up a '6' on his temperature thingy. "Ooh, not quite enough to top the Gophers. Shame, man."

I shrug as I walk offstage. Figures that Chef would have no taste in talent. So what I had a slight screw-up? I'd like to see him do better.

"Next on deck, Trent! Take it away, my bro."

 **Trent's POV –**

Time to this all over again.

Not the same song, obviously, but I do hope it will still go down well.

I sit on the stool and begin to strum my guitar.

 _"Do you remember the carefree days?_

 _We'd lie about and take in the rays._

 _Just you and me, a notepad and my guitar_

 _Do you remember that summer?_

 _'Cus if I don't that's really a bummer_

 _Hope those days never ended, wherever you are."_

I take a moment to shut my eyes and take in the applause.

I glance at Gwen, who sighs happily as she claps, but I make sure to look away before she can change her expression.

"Nice work," Chris says to me. "I'm likin' your style, dude. And so does Grandmaster Chef."

To his word, Chef holds up an '8' just like he did last time.

"3 down and 3 to go, with the Gophers barely taking the lead so far," he continues. "Let's hear it for Courtney!"

 **Noah's POV –**

I don't know about the others, but I'm looking forward to actually seeing Courtney's solo.

I'd call myself a fan of classical music, so I'd like to see if Courtney was actually a good violinist, or if what we saw in the actual broadcast was really the extent of her talent.

Courtney walks onstage, bow in one hand, fiddle in the other.

"My piece will be a 7-minute recital of Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2, with this…"

"You have 90 seconds tops!" Chef shouts at her.

"What!?" Courtney exclaims, before taking a second to compose herself. "Okay, I'll cut to the climax then."

Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. Often pegged as one of the difficult songs to play. I did piano for 11 years and I was never able to perfect it.

Technically, it's not classical, it's from the romantic era, but I actually prefer songs of that genre, and I've never understood why the composers of that time aren't as well known.

I must say, Courtney does not disappoint. Seeing her jig around as she performs her piece is phenomenal. Every note is right on cue, and she even manages some vibrato with the long notes.

Everyone applauds when she's done. I think I'm the loudest, but I tone it down a bit when I remember she's on the other team.

"Let's hear it for Courtney!" Chris exclaims. "It looks like Grandmaster Chef agrees."

Chef nods as he holds up a 7.

"But it's not enough to pull ahead of the Screaming Gophers, who hold the lead with Trent's love song. So, without further delay, here she is for the leaders, it's Lindsay!"

The Excessively Orange skips onstage, with Owen right behind carrying the metal pole. It's secured in place with a hole that he carved into the stage earlier.

Lindsay gives Owen a polite wave as he walks back off. She takes a moment to stretch before taking her position behind the pole.

The music plays, and it's a lot more upbeat this time. She starts off doing the same routine that she did for us earlier, but what follows is something of superhuman nature.

She continues to spin around on the pole, when she suddenly flips herself upside-down while continuing to turn.

Everyone is going 'ooh' and 'aah' in amusement.

It doesn't stop there. She lets one hand go and somehow keeps hold. How is that even possible?

Finally, she lets her other hand go, does a spin in mid air and lands upright.

The rest of us explode in applause when she's done.

"That…was awesome!" Chris exclaims, walking out next to her. "The Gophers get top points from the Chef-o-Meter. In order to escape elimination, the Bass will need to tie and we go to sudden death."

 **Harold's POV –**

The Gophers may think they've got this in the bag, but wait till they see just how advanced my wicked beatboxing skills have become.

"Well then, it's down to the final act of the night," Chris announces. "Can Harold and his rad beatboxing turn it around? Given what we just saw, I seriously doubt it."

The Bass clap as I walk onstage. It's showtime.

 **Eva's POV –**

I never really understood the hype behind Harold's beatboxing. Like, it was good, but it was pretty clear he was making everything up on the spot. How it beat Trent's singing is beyond me, but I guess I won't complain.

Harold begins, and to be fair, it does sound a lot better this time. His mouth movements are a lot smoother, he has a wider range of sounds, and he cut out the talking parts.

I guess it was worth the applause at the end.

"Wicked beatboxing dude!" Chris exclaims, clapping his hands. "And check it out, Grandmaster Chef has given Harold the top score, which brings us to sudden death!"

I'm curious what exactly 'sudden death' entails, but I guess we'll see now.

"Lindsay, come over here," Chris says, beckoning her back onto the stage. She is still holding the pole when she comes out. "Chef, which camper would you call the champion?"

"Hmm…" Chef says, standing up. "That is a good question."

I don't really care to be honest. It's not like I'm going home anytime soon.

"Wait a minute," he says. "Where did you get that pole!?"

"Uh…Owen gave it me," Lindsay says, pointing at the big guy in the bleachers.

Chef shoots Owen an angry glare.

"Heh, heh," he laughs nervously.

Just then, Cody runs over and skids to a halt in front of the bleachers.

"Hey," Cody greets everyone. "You won't believe it, but the medical tent completely collapsed. I woke up almost…"

"Cody," Owen hisses at him. "Ixnay on the..."

"Boy, you did not just take apart my medical tent!" Chef yells at him. "Gophers lose. Bass win."

"What!? That is so not fair!" Heather shouts at him, standing up.

"Life isn't fair, cupcake," Chef snaps.

"You heard the man," Chris chuckles. "Pick your favourite loser, and I'll see you at the bonfire."

 **Trent's POV –**

I think I'm safe tonight. This should be a pretty easy vote. There is no way that b…

"Trent," Heather says, peeping out from behind a tree. "Can we talk for a second?"

"Bah!" I yelp at the unexpected entrance. "How can I help you?"

"This is in relation to tonight's vote," Heather replies.

"Don't even try weaseling your way out of this one. You're gone," I frown, folding my arms.

"Oh really?" Heather says snarkily. "And I don't suppose this will change your mind?"

I gasp when I see what she holds up.

"Gwen's diary?" I say in shock, my hands in my hair.

"Yes," she grins, nodding her head. "And unless you want some particularly juicy things revealed to the world…"

"Okay, fine," I sigh. "Who do you want me to vote for?"

* * *

 **Voting confessionals:**

 **Gwen: It's pretty clear Heather has run out of ideas. It's not even worth getting rid of her. I vote for Beth**

 **Trent: I pissed that it's come to this, but Gwen's safety comes first…**

 **Leshawna: Bye, bye, Heather. I can't wait to see you try to squirm out of this one**

 **Cody: [sighs] This is gonna blow.**

 **[eyes go wide] Can we redo this?**

* * *

 **Heather's POV –**

"Noah."

…

"Trent."

…

"Lindsay."

…

"Katie."

…

"Owen."

…

"Leshawna."

Ugh, I really wanted to get rid of her, but Noah said he would have quite a job convincing both Katie and Owen to join us, so I decided to switch to my second choice.

…

"Cody."

…

"Gwen."

…

"Kudos to you all for a night of entertainment; music, drama, suggestive dancing!"

"There is only one marshmallow left on this plate," Chris says. "Heather, you're a person of influence, and Beth, you're a person of…uh…dental adjustment."

"What?" I hear Noah mutter from the audience.

"But for one of you, that just wasn't enough," Chris continues. "The last marshmallow goes to…"

"…Heather."

"No!" Beth cries aloud.

"I'm sorry, Beth," I say sweetly. "There's always next time."

"Whatever," Beth frowns, getting up from her stump and marching to the dock.

 **Leshawna's POV –**

I stomp back to the cabin with Gwen by my side.

"That little b***h. How did she get through?" I snap.

"Actually, I voted for Beth," Gwen confesses, raising her hand.

"What!?"

"We don't need to worry about Heather. She's run out of ideas," Gwen says. "She tried stealing my journal again, but I ripped out all the pages and wrote a note saying, 'Nice try."

"Haha," I begin to laugh. "That's a good one, girl."

"Wait, what?" Trent says from behind us. "Crap!"

"What?" Gwen asks, turning around.

Trent sighs, "Before the ceremony, Heather came up to me with your diary and she said she would read it if I didn't vote for Beth! I'm such an idiot."

"It's okay, Trent, you didn't know," Gwen assured him.

"Damn, she's good," I groan.

* * *

 **Votes -**

 **Beth (7) - Cody, Gwen, Heather, Katie, Noah, Owen, Trent**

 **Heather (3) - Beth, Lindsay, Leshawna**

 **And Beth is next to leave. I didn't have any big plans for her, so it seemed logical.**

 **And that's episode 5. Please be patient for the next update as I have lots of stuff going on irl, but I'll try to get back to this when I can ;)**

 **Fav, follow and review!**


	6. Episode 6

**Hiiii!**

 **I know, it's been six months. Had lots of shit going on. But I'm back!**

 **And for those of you waiting for Euro-Drama season 3, the first chapter was uploaded a week ago. But I understand OC fics aren't for everyone and that's okay**

* * *

 **Noah's POV –**

"Campers, today's challenge will test your outdoor survival skills."

Looks like it's time for this mess of a challenge.

No, really, there were so many loopholes that could have been exploited here but nobody figured them out. I was right when I said they voted out the only person with any brains on the team.

"I'm not gonna lie to you, some of you may not come back alive."

I let out a sarcastic gasp, while Lindsay lets out a real one beside me.

"Just joking, haha. All you have to do is spend one night in the woods. Everything you need is at your team's campsite in the forest. You just have to find it."

He throws out two maps and compasses, which are caught by Heather and Courtney.

"Oh, and watch out for bears. Lost a couple of interns in pre-production," Chris says. "First team back for breakfast wins invincibility."

He blows his air-horn, "Well, off you go."

I'm about to say something to Cody when Chris, "And before any of you get any bright ideas, you're not allowed to leave the campsite until sunrise. Any team who shows up before I do gets disqualified."

Damn it, they cut that line out.

 **Gwen's POV –**

I sigh to myself as I walk through the forest, slightly ahead of Leshawna.

I feel so weird after last night. Trent's song. Was it about me? Maybe it's obvious based on the lyrics, but is he really not over me?

If he's not, I'm not even sure if I am. Do I still have feeling for him? Even after these years, and all those incidents? I don't know. I really don't know.

I suddenly take a pause, and Leshawna walks into me.

"Oops, sorry," she says, turning to me. "How you doin', girl?"

"Me? Uh…I'm fine," I reply.

"I'm not," Leshawna groans. "I'm just so pissed at Heather for toyin' with Trent like that. It's amazing what she'll do to stay in the game."

"Yeah," I say. "It's…it's awful."

With that, Leshawna swings her arms and walks off ahead of me.

I really couldn't care less about Heather and her antics. Not when there's other s**t on my mind.

 **Sadie's POV –**

The Killer Bass begins their trek through the forest when I see it. The thing that ruined everything.

That blueberry bush. Ugh! The thing that got Katie kicked, completely ruining my game. I lost my appetite for blueberries years after the incident.

The bush just stands there mocking me. Let's see how you like it. I give the bush a few kicks. That feels satisfying. Take that!

I'm so wrapped up in taking out my anger that I don't notice my team taking off without me. Almost all of my team, anyway.

 **Ezekiel's POV –**

"Uh…Sadie?"

I stand taut as I watch her kick the bush. Beads of sweat fall down my face as my team takes a turn right.

"Sadie?"

She again doesn't hear me. I tried to alert the rest of the team but nobody seemed to listen. I think I'm just afraid of speaking up after last time.

One more time. I take a deep breath,

"Sadie!?"

"Huh?" Sadie responds, turning to face me. "Zeke?"

She looks around and gasps, "Where is everyone?"

"They just…"

"Aw no, I did it again! Ugh, stupid bush!" she turns to kick it one more time.

"They just turned right. We can catch up if we're quick," I say, and we run off.

 **Cody's POV –**

I don't think many people really appreciated how nice this forest is. Yeah, it's full of dangerous wildlife, but that's part of the intrigue. Reminds me of my childhood days as a Pos…

"Cody?" Heather says sharply, snapping her finger. "Here."

"What?" I say, staying back to walk beside her.

"Nothing. I just wanted to talk," she smiles. "How are you?"

"How do you think?" I say bluntly.

"What are you so angry about?" she giggles. "You're pretty much safe until the merge, and you don't even need to do anything. Your whole fate rests in Noah."

"If you're trying to make me mad at him, it's not gonna work," I snap. "You're the one who's blackmailing him."

"True, you'd think Noah would know better than to ally with me," Heather continues to laugh. "But, you know, live and learn."

I want to strangle this girl right now. I totally would if I wasn't stuck in my scrawny pubescent body.

"Don't slow down," she hisses at me, stepping on my foot.

"Ouch!" I yelp. "Coming."

 **Sadie's POV -**

"I still don't see 'em," Ezekiel sighs as we keep running. "We must have gone the wrong way."

"This stinks," I groan as I stop catch my breath. "I got lost again! I am so going home tonight!"

"Eh, don't say that," he says, looking down at his feet. "We've got time."

I rest against a tree and pant, "That's enough running for a while."

"That's no problem," Ezekiel says, putting his hands behind his back. "The rest of the team will be stopping at camp soon. Let's try a different direction."

He starts to walk, only to pause and look back at me, "I lived in these parts for two years. I know every nook and cranny, eh?"

"Uh-huh," I nod uncertainly, tagging behind him.

 **Owen's POV –**

"So, do you think there'll be any bears tonight?" I ask enthusiastically, looking back at my buddy Noah.

"You better make any noises!" Heather shouts at me from in front. "Because that was a disaster last time!"

"Actually, making bears generally fear loud noises, so technically, Owen is the last person to blame," Noah states, a hand on Katie's back.

"Aw, I love it when you're smart," Katie giggles, giving him a peck on the cheek.

"Heh, heh, Noah, you're smooth," I chuckle, giving him the thumbs' up. He looks back at me with an amused sigh.

I'm worried about my best friend. He's getting real close to Katie at the moment. Does he not still love Emma? I never took him as the lustful type. You think you know a person.

 **Courtney's POV –**

"Nice. We made it!" Geoff exclaims as we arrive at the Bass campsite, unpitched tent and all.

"I brought my fishing rod along this time," Harold states, pulling it out of what appeared to be his pants. "So we're not stuck eating berries all night."

"Wait, what!" I shout, clapping my hands for attention. "We should do a head count first. To make sure we didn't lose anyone this time."

"Fine, but make it quick," Harold sighs.

"One," I snap at him, pointing my index finger. "Two, three, four, five, six…"

I touch my chest, "Seven. We're missing two people."

"Sadie, no surprise," Eva grunts. "And home-school's not here either."

"Someone better go look for them. They could cost us the challenge," I warn.

"Well," Duncan answers, wiggling his eyebrows. "Maybe we could…"

"Shush," I hiss at him.

"Me and DJ can go," Geoff volunteers, raising his eyebrows.

"Uh…" DJ shuffles nervously. "I better stay behind. To…cook the fish."

"You can take Duncan instead," I suggest, shoving said scumbag away.

"Cool," Geoff shrugs, and they both set off.

After a few seconds, Izzy shouts out, "Going with Harold! Called it!"

 **Leshawna's POV –**

Our team gets to work putting the camp in order.

Gwen and I pitch the tent, Trent, Cody and Heather try to start the fire while Lindsay and Katie are off picking berries.

Except it's hard to focus with Owen screaming in the distance.

"Arrrrgh! I'm really loud! LOUD! LOUD! LOUD! Bears, don't come over here! It's like a rock concert! Ba-dum-ba-dum-ba-DUMMM!"

"Nice one, Noah," Gwen snarls.

"Sorry for stating the facts," Noah says, continuing to pace around like he owns the place. "By the way, you're inserting the poles the wrong way round."

"And what do you know about camping?" I snap at him.

"Nothing. Cody told me to pass it on because he's too passive to boss you around," Noah shrugs.

"Did you have to mention that last bit?" I see Cody mouth at him.

 **Ezekiel's POV –**

I continue to pace through the forest while Sadie follows behind, overwhelmed with tears.

"Uh…it's okay, Sadie. We'll get back, eh," I say, looking back. I tried to sound optimistic but my uncertainty seeped through.

"What's the point?" she continues to wail. "Even if we make it, the damage is done. I'll be voted off next time for sure."

"What makes you say that? It could be me," I point out.

"Who are you kidding? You didn't make the same mistake twice."

"No. I tried to get back on this show too many times to count," I groan, shaking my head.

The two of us walk in silence a bit longer, but unbeknownst to us, a brown bear is sneaking up from behind.

I am only alerted to it when I hear Sadie scream, "Eeeeeeeeeek!"

The bear pounced on her and she got shoved to the ground. She continues to scream as she runs over to a nearby tree and starts to climb.

"Zeke, get over here!" she calls out, beckoning me over.

I can't move. Why am I standing still?

"Watch out!" she cries as the bear advances towards me.

That's when my mind goes numb…

 **Sadie's POV –**

What is he doing? He's going to get himself mauled!

"Why are you still standing there!?" I scream at him. "What are you…"

"Grraaaah!" he starts to hiss, suddenly pouncing on the bear. "Arrrrgh! Harrrrgggghhh!"

This is way too much for me to take. I have to scream.

 **Duncan's POV –**

Geoff and I wince as we hear a girl scream in the distance.

"Was that…" Geoff asked.

"This way," I say, running in the direction it came from.

By the time we arrive at the scene, Sadie is still screeching her head off as she stands upright in a large pine tree, while Ezekiel is on the ground brawling it out with a bear. Both have taken some scratches, though only the bear is shedding blood.

"Rah," Ezekiel lets out one last grow as he stands up. The bear lies on the ground shaking in fear for a bit before galloping off.

"Oh…my God," Geoff says, visibly stunned.

"Ezekiel, that was amazing!" Sadie squeals, leaping from the tree and embracing him in a tight hug. "You saved my life!"

"Urk," Ezekiel gasps, barely able to breathe.

"Come on, lovebirds, we better get back to camp," I chuckle, pointing them in the right direction.

"Lovebirds!?" Ezekiel exclaims as Sadie lets go of him.

 **Geoff's POV –**

The four of us walk back to camp in single file, when I slow down to walk next to Ezekiel.

"So…looks like you and Sadie have something going on?" I smirk, giving him a nudge.

"Eh!? Oh n-no, it wasn't w-what it looked like. We're j-just friends," Ezekiel stammers. Pathetic.

"Of course, how could I be so dumb?" I continue. "That's right. You're into Bridgette."

"What?" he gasps. "W-what makes you think that?"

"I saw the way you were talkin' to her on the dock. Being like 'ooh, thanks for helping with my nosebleed'."

He just nods and mumbles uncertainly.

"Let's cut to the chase, Zeke," I hiss at him. "I know you tried to vote me off last night."

"Eh? I voted for Courtney," he lies.

"Right…it's not like you knew I was distracting her or anything. Why would anyone else have voted me off?"

He again doesn't say anything. He looks down and sighs

 **Ezekiel's POV –**

Because you're a narcissistic asshole? And I know for a fact that Harold voted for you twice?

I know better than to answer back though. Can't make the same mistake.

"You messed with the wrong dude, Ezekiel," he snaps at me, stressing every syllable of my name like it's a martial art. "Watch your step from now on."

"Y-yes sir," I stutter, not really sure what else to say.

"Good. I have my eye on you," he frowns, then he walks ahead to be beside Duncan.

 **Harold's POV –**

I whistle a merry tune to myself as I reach a creek in the middle of the forest.

Time to shine. Again. I'm really on fire this season. Making it far in the awake-a-thon, winning the talent show, I just hope people don't see me as a threat when we make the merge.

I get down on my knees and open up my fishing satchel. I have just the thing for this occasion. My lucky spoon jig. It's red and white and adorned with golden maple leaves. A prized possession for any Canadian angler.

Next I take some salmon and place it on the hook. It's gone a bit rotten from being in my bag all this time, but it should do the trick.

Alas, my ritual is interrupted by a certain boisterous Gopher.

"I'M FISHING! I'M FISHING! BEARS CAN'T GET ME! 'CUS I'M FISHING AND TALKING LOUD!" Owen screams as he sidesteps along the stream. "FISH, FISH, FISH! LOUD, LOUD, LOUD!"

"Owen," I hiss at him, but can't hear. I try again a bit louder, "Owen!"

"Huh?" he says, when he notices me there. "OH, HELLO HAROLD! HOW IS THE BASS TEAM DOING!?"

"Can you refrain from making such obnoxious sounds? They'll scare away the fish and damage their hearing," I hiss at him.

"Oh, sorry," he whispers back. "I'll try and be quieter now. I was just worried about the bears."

Alright, I lied. Sound doesn't travel well from air to water so the fish would have barely heard anything. But it was on its way to damaging my hearing.

"Have you caught anything yet?" he whispers at me.

"No I just started," I respond. "You?"

"Nope, what with the shouting and all that," Owen sighs. "I loved your beatboxing yesterday."

"Uh…thanks," I say, sounding a little unamused. "Could you keep sound to a minimum, I need to focus."

"Yes, yes, of course," Owen nods. "I'll uh…try a different section."

With that, he paces off. Finally, some peace and quiet.

Is this what I think it is? A shake of the rod. Excitedly, I pull it up.

I did it! A fine specimen of Salvelinus namaycush. That's lake trout in lay terms.

 **Owen's POV –**

Harold is right. Shouting and roaring might be good for keeping the bears away, but not so good for getting all the fishies.

I've been walking a couple more minutes and not a single fish. Maybe I should go back to where Harold was? No – it benefits both of us if we don't disturb each other.

"Gotcha! Gotcha! Gotcha!" I hear a voice in the distance. Who could it be?

"Yeah, that's right! I'm the man! Technically I'm a woman but it's 2015. Okay, technically it isn't 2015…"

Uh-oh. I panic and duck behind a nearby tree. I can't let Izzy see me.

I haven't spoken to her in years. We've only talked once since the break-up in World Tour. It was at a Target in Vancouver. So many…baked beans…

My flash-back has caught me off guard. My biggest weakness has come again.

"Ew, who farted?" Izzy giggled, taking her pole out of the water.

Crap, crap, crap, crap. Maybe she won't notice this tree. Could I somehow make a dash for it?

She shrugs her shoulders and puts the pole back in.

Phew. That was a close…

I suddenly tumble to the ground as Izzy pounces on me.

"Aha!" she exclaims. I turn my neck to look at her. I swear there's fire in her eyes.

"Bad Owen! Bad Owen! Naughty, naughty Owen!" she screams, slapping my face several times. "Trying to get a glimpse of the wild Izzy up front? Tough luck. You had your chance."

"No, Izzy, it's not like…arrrgh!" I yelp as she slaps me several more times.

"Haha, it's nice to see you again," Izzy giggles. "You can go now."

She somersaults backwards off me, and I cautiously crawl off.

 **Izzy's POV –**

That was fun.

I look at my twig. I've stabbed to death about a dozen fish. Not a bad day's work. Plus I like the trail of blood that I've built up behind me. Makes it look like I've committed a murder – something I unfortunately haven't done yet – but Drake's days are numbered, mark my words.

"Hey, Harold," I greet, throwing my pole over my shoulders.

He jumps a little and drops his rod at my sudden entrance, only to be splattered by blood as he turns to face me.

"Gosh, and I almost had it," he groans. "Greetings, Izzy."

"And to you too," I giggle. "Catch anything?"

"Yes, three trout, four bass, and five perches," Harold replies, inspecting my pole. "I see you've accumulated quite a few common cod."

"Uh-huh," I nod.

"Let's get back to camp. They must be starving by now."

"Uh-huh."

"You're gonna do that all the way back, aren't you?"

"Uh-huh."

 **Courtney's POV –**

I take a deep breath as I slide myself over to Ezekiel and Sadie, who are lounging way too close to the fire for comfort.

"Hi guys," I greet. They both look up at me. Sadie has a raised eyebrow, while Ezekiel just nods.

"I'm so glad you made it back safely. That must have been scary."

"It was…a bit," Sadie giggles. "But Zeke here totally saved my butt."

"Aw, it was nothing," Ezekiel murmurs, looking down at his shoes.

"You, like, saved my life back there. No need to be modest," she says, patting Ezekiel on the back.

What can I move onto next? What is Sadie into?

"I like your top. It looks so good on you."

"Thanks," Sadie replies, now looking a bit down. Damn it, did I say something wrong?

Noticing the awkwardness in the air, Ezekiel pipes up, "How do I look, eh?"

"You look good," I grin, trying not to hesitate. "You've got that nice relaxed…farmers look."

Ezekiel beams at this, but I regret saying it. Now all I can see in my mind is Scott…with his vest and his snug jeans. My mind fills with discouraging thoughts.

Maybe trying to make new allies isn't such a good idea. I have this bad habit of becoming a control freak or screwing them over, and I hate that I'm like that, but it just tends to happen. Over and over and over.

No, Courtney. Everyone makes mistakes. You can do this. Try something else.

"What would you guys do with the hundred grand?" I ask. "I'd go travelling. I've wanted to go on an African safari. What about you?"

Ezekiel lets out a loud sigh at this. Great, now all three of us are in a bad mood.

 **Sadie's POV –**

Why did Courtney come over here? Ezekiel and I were just beginning to relax and now she's ruined it. I thought she hated me.

"We're back, bassies!" Izzy roars as she skips out from behind the bushes. Both she and Harold are carrying pole-loads of fish of all shapes and sizes.

"Who's hungry?" Harold asks with a grin.

I let out a squeal as I stand up. "You coming, Zeke?"

I look back. Ezekiel is curled up in a ball, his eyes wide open and fixed on the fire.

 **Ezekiel's POV –**

I'm trapped in a cage. Hissing and growling, the Tanzania sun scalds my skin. Chris begin announcing the challenge. I can't understand a word. I can't comprehend English anymore.

"Ezekiel, are you okay?" Sadie asks in alarm, tapping me on the arm.

"Huh?" I say, shaking my head. "What the heck happened there?"

Sadie points at the rest of the team who are gathered around Harold and Izzy with the fish.

"Oh, good eh," I say quickly, getting up and following behind her.

 **Heather's POV –**

The rest of the team and I sit on the ground, feasting on Owen's fish.

This is the life. I can't help but admire the view. Katie snuggled up with Noah, Cody out of sight, probably cowering in the corner, Owen being…Owen. Oblivious to everything going on behind the scenes. I could get used to this time-travel business.

"Grah!" I hear from behind me. I turn around. Oh well, the moment was nice while it lasted.

The entire team screams as we rush from the campfire and up a nearby tree.

As I climb up and reach one of the middle branches, I notice Cody lounging at the top and munching on a fillet of cod.

"Have you been up there this whole time!?" I shout at him.

"For, like, fifteen minutes," Cody calls back. "The bear was gonna show up any second. I thought you guys knew!"

"We did but…ugh!" I scoff at him.

 **Lindsay's POV –**

"Real bear or Izzy?" Kayleigh asks as she rests against Tyler. Wait, what? How dare she!

Oh no, not Tyler. Some other guy. I've forgotten his name though.

"It's hard to say," says Lafonda.

"I don't remember her leaving!" I explain.

"She's on a different team, moron," refines Heather to the left of me.

"How are we going to figure this out?" I ask.

"There's only way!" Heather shouts, and she edges towards me and shoves me off the branch.

 **Katie's POV –**

My mouth goes open in shock as I watch Lindsay scream and fall to the ground on her butt.

The bear notices her and slowly creeps forward, bearing its sharp, white teeth.

"No, I can't watch!" I scream, and Noah helpfully puts his hands around my eyes. "Noah, I love you sometimes."

"Thank you," Noah replies in an upbeat tone.

I hear Lindsay get to her feet and dust herself off, the bear taking a deep breath. Her breaths are shallow, and it is only when the bear lets out a roar that she lets out a scream.

After a second I start to hear gasps.

"Holy f***!" Noah shouts, taking his hands away.

"What? What happened?" I ask in panic, opening my eyes. What the heck did she do!?

Lindsay's face has gone pale as she looks between the bear and a discarded log that I assume she just threw. She set the bear on fire!

It lets out a growl of pain, before galloping back into the bushes.

A few of us take sighs of relief as we slide down from the tree.

"Well, that's one way to do it," Gwen chuckles as she lands on the ground.

"What are you guys so happy about it? She just hurt a living creature!" Heather frowns, her hands on her hips.

"And you pushed her out of a tree!" Leshawna snaps, pointing a finger at the queen bee.

"Can you guys fight tomorrow? I'm exhausted," Noah yawns as he stretches his arms.

Several of us nod in consensus, and we all head for the tent.

 **DJ's POV –**

The nine of us lay in our tent, all struggling to get any sleep on the thin layer of nylon separating us from the stony ground.

I turn my head to the right in hopes of drifting off, and accidentally collide into Eva.

"That's your third time," Eva snaps, kicking me in the shin.

"Sorry," I say, returning to my original position.

"Guys, what's going on outside?" Harold asks, sitting up and pointing ahead. A few of us follow suit.

I gaze through the fabric of the tent. Not far in the distance there is an orangish-yellow glow.

"What is that?" Sadie asks nervously, grabbing Ezekiel's shoulder.

The blob of light is coming closer. It starts to growl.

"Is that a…" Courtney stammers.

Before she can finish her sentence, the tent is flung to the side. Those of us closest to the flap evacuate immediately.

Duncan is first out, followed by Geoff and me. The girls of the team are next – Courtney has her arm around Sadie who has shed tears in shock.

We watch in horror as the burning bear rampages about the tent, squashing whoever remains inside.

"Zeke!" Sadie screams, her face red from crying as she tugs on Courtney.

"Look! They're moving!" Duncan exclaims. Sure enough, the lump emerges from underneath the wild animal and Ezekiel's head pops out. He tears apart the flaming tent with Harold slung over his shoulder.

The bear falls to its side, but it doesn't take long to recover. Who will it target next? I have no way of knowing, and I refuse to take the chance. I scream and run.

 **Eva's POV –**

Those of us who aren't over-reactive crybabies dash for the nearest tree.

Ezekiel is last to climb up and settle on a branch. He spits tent fabric out of his mouth – did he chew his way out?

"Oh dear," Sadie says in horror from the branch above me. "He's not going to die, is he?"

"Unless he finds a sufficient water source, he will likely burn to his demise within the next 15 to 30 minutes," Harold answers.

Sadie cries even harder than before.

"Nice one, dweeb!" Geoff remarks from the other side of the tree.

The bear continues to thrash about form what I can imagine to be excruciating pain, bashing into tree after tree and spreading the flame.

So…it looks like our options are either a bear or getting burned alive. At least I'd have a fighting chance in the former case.

"We're gonna die!" Sadie screams, still squeezing the life out of Courtney. If the fire and the bear don't get to us, she's still doomed.

While the rest of us cower in fear to different extents, Izzy is perched on the top branch, cackling in delight.

"Bwa-ha-ha-ha! Down with Western society! Long live the proletariat!"

The flames get closer and closer as she continues to scream and shout.

"Would you watch it!?" I shout. One of the burning bushes is mere centimetres away from one of the branches.

"This is our great sacrifice! To undermine the bourgeois who run reality tele...ooh."

She is interrupted when a drop of rain fails on her head, followed by a downpour.

I cannot describe the relief I feel as I watch the trees and the bear get sprayed with shit-tons of water. We live another day.

We all climb down from the tree and settle back down on the ground. Most of the bear's fur was burned off during the fire. He covers his groin region in embarrassment, before rushing off into the bushes.

Our tent is nothing more than ashes, but I suppose it could be worse.

 **Trent's POV –**

It must almost be midnight by now. Most of the team is fast asleep, but I'm still awake for now.

Gwen has rolled into my arms. It feels so good to hold her once again, yet so wrong at the same time. What if she wakes up? She won't see it as the nice coincidence that I see. Or maybe she will. I'm not willing to chance it.

"Attention campers!" my eyes go wide as Chris' voice emits through the nearby loudspeakers. I let go of Gwen in shock and roll to the left, accidentally bashing into Owen. Luckily, he's too drowsy to realise just happened. "In a shocking turn of events, today's challenge has been suddenly terminated."

"W-what is going on?" Heather groans, rubbing her eyes.

"It seems that DJ has wandered back to camp several hours before sunrise, therefore disqualifying his team."

I can't hear it, but I can imagine the groans of the Bass at this sudden turn of events.

"By default, the Gophers get to play another day!"

"Yeah." "Yay." "Go team." The team lets out a series of half-assed cheers at the good news. It's great that we won, but now we're going to have to slog all the way back to camp in the dark.

 **Courtney's POV –**

Ezekiel, Sadie and I hang out on the dock the following evening. Letting her hug me during the horrors last night must have helped, because Sadie seems a lot more comfortable around me this time.

"So…how are you guys planning to vote tonight?" I ask casually.

"Hmm…" Ezekiel ponders. "Well, it's a tough one, eh? I mean, DJ did screw up the challenge, but Geoff's been a jerk all game."

"What he said," Sadie agrees. "I'll probably go with Geoff. He said some nasty things to Zeke yesterday – I want to show him who he's messing with."

Time to sway them. I can do it. "I don't think voting for Geoff is a good idea."

"Why?" Ezekiel inquires.

"I…it's just…in games like these, you need to go with what's practical instead of following your emotions," I say. "At the last ceremony I voted for Duncan, just because I couldn't stand being around him after everything. But he didn't leave. Bridgette and Geoff were the bottom 2. I mean, it was pretty clear that they did the weakest in the dodgeball challenge…Bridgette could have stayed. I don't know if I'm making sense."

"I get it," Ezekiel says. "The world doesn't revolve around us. We need to consider other people's thoughts."

"Exactly!"

"But Harold has voted for Geoff every time," Sadie points out. "I still think voting for Geoff would be the better option."

"But there's not just Harold to worry about. There's Eva and Izzy. Who knows, maybe even Duncan or Geoff will turn on him?" Courtney suggests.

"Harold voting for Geoff is more to undermine Duncan. He told me himself," Ezekiel tells me, adding in disgust, "During a very long-winded sob story I might add."

"I still don't know…" Sadie admits.

"If you two really want to vote for Geoff, I'll join you," I offer. "The most important thing is we stick together."

"I'll ask Harold what he thinks," Ezekiel sighs, putting his socks back on.

 **Voting confessionals –**

 **Geoff: Zeke, there's no way you're getting away with what you did. Goodbye!**

 **Izzy: [rubs her hands in delight] Everything is falling into place.**

 **Harold: DJ screwed up. He's Duncan's friend and possible ally. I'll take what I can get [shrugs]**

 **Eva: I'm voting for Sadie. Sure, DJ screwed up, but we need all the strength we can get. She got lost in the forest again, so she clearly hasn't learned anything.**

 **Sadie: [blank expression] Did I seriously just agree to an alliance with Courtney? I'm such a wreck, aren't I?**

 **Duncan's POV –**

Looks like we're back here again. I don't see any reason to go home tonight, but then again, I didn't expect voting off Bridgette to actually work so who knows?

My alliance voted for Ezekiel. He wouldn't have been my first choice but damn has Geoff nailed the rich boy tantrum. Went on about how home-school is out to get him. I don't care.

"You've all cast your votes. The camper who does not receive a marshmallow must immediately hit the dock of shame, grab the boat of losers, and get the heck out of here. And you can't come back. Ever."

That's a lie but who has the energy to point it out?

"Now, I can see you're all tired so tonight I'll just throw them to you. Savvy?"

"Courtney."

The cyclops-in-training's face lights up as her marshmallow lands in her hands…

"Duncan."

But it turns into a smirk literally seconds later. Come on, babe, I know I was a jerk but I'm not really the bane of your existence, am I? Meh, knowing you…

"Geoff."

…

"Harold."

…

"Izzy."

…

"Eva."

…

"Sadie."

…

Just Brickhouse and Prairie-Freak left. I know DJ screwed up, but considering how divided the team has been lately, he's got as good a chance as any.

Zekey-boy doesn't seem too bothered, strangely enough. He's just keeping a straight expression and not doing much else. He's probably still celebrating in his head over making it past the first episode.

"Ezekiel."

Oh well.

"Yay! I'm not a jinx!" Sadie squeals, giving Ezekiel a squeeze.

"No hard feelings, dude. You will be missed," Chris says, his hands on his hips.

"Bye dude," Geoff sighs, giving him a wave, only to gasp as I elbow him in the stomach.

"Nice one, moron," I snap. Looks like Zeke wasn't targeting him after all.

 **Leshawna's POV –**

I sit at the beach with my sandals kicked off and my pants rolled off. I just saw DJ leave on the dock. A shame to see a brother go, but it is what it is.

"Hey," Gwen greets as she sits beside me. "I've been looking all over. What's up?"

"Oh, you know, just had a lot on my mind," I sigh. "I'm onto Heather. I know she's still in the game through unsavoury means, I just don't know what they are. We know she stole your diary to trick Trent, but what about the others? Cody, Lindsay, Katie…they could all be under her thumb for all we know."

"Hmm…" Gwen ponders, holding onto my arm. "I can't say I know, but we'll defeat her…somehow."

"I sure hope so."

We sit in silence for a few seconds, and then Gwen says, "I brought you some candy corn."

"Girl, you know me too well," I grin, taking the confectionery from her hand.

* * *

 **Votes**

 **DJ (5) – Courtney, Ezekiel, Harold, Izzy, Sadie**

 **Ezekiel (3) – DJ, Duncan, Geoff**

 **Sadie (1) – Eva**

 **And DJ is the next to leave. I didn't really have any plans for him this season, but apologies to any fans of his.**

 **I'd originally planned for a more prominent character to leave this round, but the opportunity didn't arise. Oh well.**

 **Like I said in the first chapter of EDS, I can't promise frequent updates and I'll just take things one chapter at a time.**

 **Please fav and follow if you haven't already, and leave a review whatever your opinion. I'll see you next time**


	7. Episode 7

**Disclaimer: I don't own Total Drama. I do, however, own the copyright on pictures of the author's OC's that he drew when he was 13**

 **Ah, back when ears were a privilege, not a right**

 **So, a relatively quick update. I just couldn't stop once I started. Maybe it's because I'm supposed to be studying?**

 **Regardless, hope you enjoy :)**

* * *

 **Duncan's POV –**

It's pretty dark. Most of the Bass have left the elimination ceremony, leaving just me and Geoff to watch the tiny dot that DJ's boat has become.

Geoff lets out a sigh, "Poor dude."

I turn to face him. "You are unbelievable!" I snap.

"What?" Geoff responds in confusion, scratching under his hat.

"You should have heard yourself!" I continue, my hands in the air. "Ugh, Ezekiel talked to Bridgette. He's totally out to get me. Nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh!"

"He could be…he might be trying to throw me off," Geoff says in defence.

"You actually made me believe that we had control of the team. That Home-School and Thing 2 would split the vote. But no, your head is really that far up its ass!" I yell. "I don't want to look at you right now."

"You're completely over-reacting!" Geoff frowns.

"Out of my sight!" I scream. Geoff puts his hands up in surrender and walks off.

I smirk to myself once he's a reasonable distance away.

Like I'm really that mad about the vote. Sure, I'm kind of annoyed that it didn't go my way, but I've got something much more important on my mind.

Geoff. He's been a bratty little asshole ever since he stepped off the dock. He dictated both of our alliance votes, and he threw a fit if me or DJ made other suggestions. It's time I brought him down a few pegs. This should be simple. Whether or not he wants to admit it, he needs me way more than I need him.

I'll give myself five minutes or so to 'cool off', and then I'll join the others.

 **Leshawna's POV –**

Gwen and I are the last to arrive at the campfire, just in time to see Courtney freak out at the green jelly.

"No thanks," she says, holding her palm out at Katie.

"You're afraid of green jelly?" Katie asks.

"No…no…" Courtney replies as calmly as she can. "I'm just…full…after that marshmallow."

"Are you anaesthetic?" Lindsay asks in concern.

"It's fine if you're afraid of something," Trent assures her. "I'm terrified of dogs. Especially beagles."

"Excuse me?" Courtney responds

"I feel you, bro," Cody adds. "I can't stand saltwater taffy. It's all chewy and…ugh."

"Really? They taste so good. And they always come in those neat little bags," Lindsay gasps.

I really hope someone prompted her. Otherwise we are so dead.

 **Eva's POV –**

And so the faux-share fest begins. Things start off pretty tame. Zeke saying he's afraid of classical music, Harold going on about his hatred of Japanese game-shows, and Owen admitting he can't stand the taste of chocolate cream donuts.

And then we get stuff like this…

"My fear?" Duncan asks. "I guess…making out with Courtney."

"What!?" Courtney shouts. "I mean…good."

She folds her arms and pouts. This challenge is starting to get interesting.

"Oh, oh, me next!" Izzy exclaims, raising her hand. "Having to shoot Celine Dion with a machine gun. I mean, I love her music, and I'd hate to see her die."

Several people's jaws drop at that one. I knew Izzy was f**ked, but killing someone on national TV? Worst thing is I don't know if the show will actually go through with it.

"Hmm…" Noah appears to be in thought. "Seeing my brothers, Mason and Elijah, in drag."

There are several snorts of laughter at that. Damn, Noah, that's brutal.

"What's my fear?" I say aloud. "I guess…having to bench press 70 kilos on a stage."

I've moved on from wanting to get revenge on people. May as well use this challenge to show off my strength.

 **Gwen's POV –**

"My worst fear…" I say, taking an obligatory pause. "I guess…seeing Heather doing the Macarena…in a chicken suit."

Heather looks over and scoffs.

"Yeah, same," Leshawna agrees. "That would be some terrifying stuff."

"That's…interesting." Heather says calmly, standing up with her hands on her hips. "Because my biggest fear is Gwen being eliminated!"

She did not.

"You sure?" Leshawna asks. "You don't have any problem with sumo wrestlers, for example?"

"Sumo wrestlers?" Credit to Heather, she's able to keep a straight face. "Alright, who's next?"

"Bad haircuts!" Lindsay screams.

Uh-oh.

"Uh…Lindsay, are you sure about that?" Katie asks in a cautious manner.

"Oh, sorry. Walking through a minefield in heels. Thanks, Katie."

I can hear Leshawna groan from beside me.

"Being alone in a room with Sadie for 20 minutes," Katie 'shudders'.

Sadie raises an eyebrow in disbelief.

"I'm afraid of chugging cola," Geoff says. "The bubbles…they get up my nose."

I see Courtney roll her eyes at this.

"Public speaking," Courtney 'confesses'. "There's nothing worse than telling the nation all of your political views."

"What about you, Sadie?" Ezekiel asks, giving the girl a nudge.

"Who, me?" Sadie asks. "I'm terrified of…Katie getting her head shaved."

Katie sighs and falls backward off her stump.

 **Owen's POV –**

I am in bliss as I scarf down whatever Chef prepared for breakfast today. Everything has tasted so much better since I went back in time. According to Noah it's because our taste buds start to die once we get older. Being an adult sucks.

"Campers. Your next challenge is a little game I like to call…Phobia Factor. Prepare to face your worst fears."

"Now…for our first victims," Chris began. "Eva…meet us all in the theatre…it's bench press time."

Eva lets out a gasp. She's a pretty terrible actress if I say so myself.

"Lindsay…you, me, the beach…a few dozen mines and some fashionable shoes?"

"Argh!" Lindsay screams, before shaking her head. "Wait, do I get to pick the colour?"

"Sure," Chris shrugs, rolling his eyes. "Chef Hatchet, didn't you have a special order for Trent here today?"

Chef stands in the kitchen at a deep fat fryer with a smug grin on his face. He holds the pan under his nose, which contains a puppy covered in batter.

"What the…" he says in confusion as he takes the batter out of the pan. He tears some of it off to see a live beagle trapped inside. "Oh my God!"

He takes shallow breaths as he sets it back on the table. Did he say his actual fear? Or is he just horrified that there was a dog in the deep-fat fryer? I really can't tell.

 **Geoff's POV –**

I still can't get over last night. Duncan is being so unreasonable. This is all part of Ezekiel's plan, I bet. To make me look crazy so he won't even have to try to vote me off. I see right through his bulls**t.

A few contestants gathered around to see me face my 'fear'. Damn have I been waiting for this. I've been without soda for weeks now – I deserve this.

I shake my shoulders, pretending to break a bit of a sweat before I start my daring feat.

"You have thirty seconds, bra," Chris says.

"Let's do this!" I say. I take off my hat and start to down the litre of cola. Oh, that sweet, sweet taste. Come to papa. Yes.

The rest of the team cheers as I put the bottle back down and let out a long and loud burp. I've earned the bass their first point.

I look over to Duncan, who is still scowling at me. Get over yourself, man.

 **Ezekiel's POV –**

A deckchair has been set up for me in the mess hall, along with some portable music playing doo-hickey.

"You have thirty minutes," Chris informs me. A nod once and sit down while he places headphones on my head.

Ah, the magnificent sounds of Mozart. I believe this piece is called the 'Eine Kleine'. Always a favourite of mine during the long-hour study sessions back on the prairie.

Music is a powerful medium. It takes you away from your current situation. Forget all those years spent in the Canadian wilderness. Forget the constant feeling of detriment and disappointment. Be calm.

 **Cody's POV –**

Owen and I sit face to face outside, faced with the sweet snack of our choice.

"Good luck," I hear Gwen say from behind me in mock-concern. I love that girl sometimes. Not as much as Zola of course. I'm not like that.

"Okay, we're ready," I say, taking a deep breath. "Let's do this."

We both take one cautious bite, but after that we can't help ourselves. It's too good. We bring handful after handful to our mouths, gobbling up the sweets like a pack of wolves.

Man, this is some good stuff. It brings back so many good memories too. Taking all those holidays to the dock with my mom, my dad, and my cousins – I'd be addicted to the stuff when they sold it on the pier. The kiddie rollercoasters at the amusement park. Scuba diving with the fishes. Such simple times.

And would you look at that, the Gophers have earned their first two points.

"Oh yeah!" Owen cheers, and we both high-five.

 **Duncan's POV –**

Me, Geoff, Izzy and Sadie stand by the dock to watch a shirtless Harold brace himself for some wooden obstacle course that has been set up around the Dock of Shame.

Chef, who is sitting in the lifeguard chair, blows his whistle. Harold adapts some weird martial arts stance before leaping onto the first wooden platform. After staggering for a little bit, he loses his balance and falls into the water.

I slap my face, and the other three let out groans.

 **Noah's POV –**

"…and that is why I think it is Canada's sworn duty to take in Vermont should they decide to secede," Courtney concluded. "I believe that is all."

Eva and I both clap sarcastically as Courtney takes a bow and steps down from her podium.

An intern with blonde hair and a white vest pushes the wooden stand off and another intern with a red hat who looks very similar to that Silent Bob guy from season 4 shoves a bench press on..

"Good luck," Courtney beams at Eva as she sits beside me.

"Uh-huh," Eva responds, unamused. She doesn't even take 10 seconds to complete her task. She lifts those weights like they're papier-mache.

She looks up. Not-B gives her the thumbs.

Looks like I'm next. This should be good.

Some instrumental Bollywood music starts to play (way to keep things PC, Teletoon) as my two older brothers step out wearing wigs, saris and s**tloads of makeup. Well, to be specific, Elijah and Mason are my youngest older brothers, but we're a big family.

Yes. This is it. Revenge for all the times you stole my action figures and put ghost-peppers in my curry. I savour the saliva on my tongue because this moment is delicious. There they are, putting on fake smiles and shaking their asses to the music.

"I am going to have nightmares for this!" I shout in the most sarcastic tone possible.

Elijah grits his teeth. I'm sure he's plotting the ways he could kill me right now. Good luck with that, dude. After I win the million I'll be untouchable.

I take a look at the stereo system next to the stage. '0:19/7:01' it reads. I rest my arms behind my head.

 **Lindsay's POV –**

F**k

F**k, f**k, f**k, f**k, f**k

"Lindsay, I see you went with the fabulous red rouge," Clint notes as he looks down at my new high-heels. "On this beach, we've scattered twenty stink-bomb land mines. In order to pass, you need to get from one side to the other, but stay inside the wooden stumps."

"The woody what?"

"Those things," he says. He points at some logs deranged in a rectangle.

"Oh okay got it," I nod. "Wait, I have one more question."

"Yes," Chris says.

"Do I get the keep the heels after?"

"Yes," he says, rolling his eyes. Or at least I think he does. It's hard to tell since the black bits take up most of the space. "You may start now."

A few of my teammies have come to cheer me.

"Go Lindsay!" Olly cheers.

"You can do it," Brody says.

"You got it girl!" shouts Lequanza.

I take a big breath. I can do this. It's just a…

"Ahhhhhh!" Ew, I just stepped on one of the mines. I've been splattered all this pink stuff. It smells like rotten fish.

"Is this fish guts!?" I scream.

"It's okay. Calm down," Lequanza says. "You're still in the game. Just keep going."

"Okay," I say. "Okay, you're right...I just hit one. It was going to happen. I'll be fine…"

"Good. Slow and steady," Olly says in a calm voice.

"I'm good now," I say. "I'm calm. I'm steady. I…arrrrrgggghhh!"

"Rotten eggs," I hear Brody say.

 **Izzy's POV –**

Yes! Today's the day.

Courtney, Geoff, Sadie and Harold (who is clutching his kiwis) are here to witness me perform my great feat.

Opposite me is some male intern in a brown wig and a shiny red dress. It may not be the real Celine, but it will do for now.

"You can do it, Izzy," Courtney says in the most half-assed tone I've ever heard. Come on, have some faith in me.

"Bombs away!" I scream, pulling the trigger. Unfortunately, not quite the result I hoped for. A tranquiliser dart shoots out, and hits the intern in the stomach. He flails around for a bit before collapsing to the ground.

"Really!?" I shout as I shut one eye and examine the gun. "I totally got ripped off there."

"Hey! Bossy girl!" Chef shouts as he enters the scene. Courtney turns to face him. "You're needed!"

"Great…" she groans.

 **Courtney's POV –**

Why is this happening? I stand opposite Duncan, while tied to a pole with several braids of rope. The monster himself has his arms folded with a big smirk on his face.

"Don't I get a say in this?" I frown at Chef.

"It's his challenge, not yours," Chef shrugs.

"Ooh, I'm really not sure about this Chef," Duncan says, wiggling his fingers. "This looks prettyyyyy scary."

I hate you. I hate you. I hate you.

"But if it's for the team," he concludes. "I guess I better."

He rushes up to me, puts his arms around the wooden pole, and smooches me for a good 8 seconds.

I can't believe he put me up to this. The worst part is…I'm kind of enjoying it. I forgot what a good kisser he was. So passionate…no Courtney! Cheater. Screw-up. Loser.

"You didn't need to do it for that long," Chef comments as he scribbles in his clipboard. "But regardless, the Bass are up to five."

Chef walks off, leaving me alone to glare at Duncan.

"Well?" I say, gritting my teeth.

"What?"

"Aren't you going to untie me?"

"Hmm…I'd love to, but I promised Geoff that I'd…and look at that, now I'm late. See ya!"

He runs off, leaving me to try and break myself free. "You don't even have a watch!" I scream at him.

 **Leshawna's POV –**

Lindsay walks through the wooden stumps on the other side of the beach, and collapses to the ground. She's covered in all kinds of rotten scents – Chef's compost, sewer water…one of the bombs even had dog shit in them.

Chris clutches his sides with laughter.

"Lindsay…hahahaha!" he screams. "Despite somehow managing to hit all twenty land-mines, you pass the challenge."

Owen, Cody and I all let out loud cheers, and then Chris turns to me with a stern look.

"Leshawna, Gwen is waiting for you at the amphitheatre," he tells me.

Yes. It's happening.

…

I arrive at the theatre just in time to see Noah's brothers dance away.

"Bravo! 5 stars!" Noah cheers, going overboard with the applause.

"Are you ready for this?" Gwen asks as I sit beside her.

"Not in the slightest," I reply, and we both snort with laughter.

Some knock-off Macarena-esque song starts to play, and Heather begrudgingly stomps on stage. She is dress in a suit with white feathers, orange feet, a red comb, and a matching bow tie.

"I don't think I can do this," Gwen says, her hand over her mouth.

The queen bee…ahem, hen puts her arms out in front of her. The infamous dance begins.

"The horror! How long must we put up with this?" I cry, throwing my hands in the air.

"Eight minutes," Gwen sniggers, pointing at the timer on the stereo.

My face lights up just a little bit more each time Heather grits her teeth.

 **Sadie's POV –**

"Zeke, there you are," I say when I notice the home-schooled boy sitting on the steps outside the main lodge. He doesn't seem too bothered that I caught him picking his nose.

"Hi," he greets, wiping his finger with a handkerchief (it's a start, I guess).

"I haven't seen you all say," I add, sitting beside him.

"Yeah, eh. I feel asleep listening to Mozart and the staff forgot about me," he replies. "Have you done your fear yet?"

"No – and I am trembling because of it," I smirk.

"Huh," Ezekiel nods. We sit together in silence for a few seconds, when looks ahead and lets out a gasp.

"What?" I respond. It's too late. Someone has snuck up behind me, handcuffed my arms and placed a blindfold around my eyes. "Hey! What's going on!?"

"Chef, what are you doing?" Zeke cries.

"Aw no, tell me this isn't what I think it is!" I groan.

…

"Alright, bring her in!" an intern exclaims. My blindfold is taken off. I'm standing in the boat-house, still handcuffed as Katie walks in, sighing heavily.

"To pass, you have to stay in this boat-house with Sadie for 20 minutes," Chef informs her. "If you want to leave, just bang hard on the door and an intern will let you out."

"Is that what the handcuffs are for?" I ask dryly.

"Your time starts now!"

 **Katie's POV –**

The door slams behind us.

"Okay, Sadie, listen to me…" I begin.

"There is nothing you can say that will change my mind," I snap.

"Sadie, please, you don't understand!" I exclaim.

"You really think I'm gonna just forgive you for what you did!?" Sadie screams at me. "Ooh, I'm Katie. Sadie is, like, my BFFFFFFFFL – that is unless I get some job in Asia in which case I'll totally throw her fat ass under the bus…"

"I, like, so don't sound like that!"

"Yes you, like, do."

"Look, Sadie, I'm gonna make things right. One of us will win that money – we can make our own fashion business right here in Canada. We'll be friends forever."

"It's too late for that Katie," she growls at me.

"Too la…we've literally gone back in time!" I yell at her.

"No excuse. The scars still remain," she frowns at me.

I slap myself in the face. "What can I even say to you now?"

"Don't bother. Just bang on that door and let yourself out!"

I stomp my foot. "No!"

"What do you mean no?"

"I'm not giving up on us, Sadie," Tears start to form in my eyes. "We've been through too much together to throw it all away."

"Don't make this about you. You're the one who was going to take that job!"

"There's just no pleasing you, is there?" I cry. "Everything has to go according to plan."

"You have no idea what you're talking about. You just contradicted yourself!" Sadie snaps.

"How?"

"First you say you don't want to throw away your friendship, then you try to justify taking that job."

"I…" I'm lost for words.

"Here's the thing about you," Sadie says. "You don't care about me. You just care about stroking your own conscience."

"That's not true either!" I shout at her. "I miss you!"

"You should have said that 8 years from now," Sadie replies. "You're a mean b**ch, and I will take great pride in seeing you lose all your hair!"

I don't know what to say now. What else can I say? I sit down on the wooden floor, put my face in my palms, and let out all the crying.

 **Ezekiel's POV –**

I don't know if my heart can take this. I'm standing outside the boathouse, listening in on every word of Katie and Sadie's quarrel. This…I have no words for it. As someone who never had any friends to call my own, it's painful watching other people fall apart. Poor girls.

"Arrrgh! Help!" I hear screaming in the distance. "Someone get me out of this!"

"Who is that? Where are you?" I call out.

"Zeke, is that you?"

"Courtney? I'm right outside the boat-house."

"Good. I can see you. I'm on your right."

"Ah." I run in that direction. What the…

"Courtney, why are you tied to a pole?" I ask. The girl is stuck to a totem pole with some polyester rope.

"I could ask myself the same thing," she groans as I start to un-knot her. "The interns put me here so Duncan would make out with me, and he left without untying me."

"What a jerk, eh," I comment. "I don't know what people see in him."

"Yeah…me neither," she responds, though I detect uncertainty in her tone. "How's our team doing?"

"Unfortunately, I have no idea," I reply. "I fell asleep during my challenge, eh."

"Ugh," she sits down on the ground and groans. "And if everyone passes their challenge, we'll lose by default since we have less people."

"Maybe," I say.

"What challenges are going on at the moment?" Courtney asks.

"Sadie is with Katie in the boathouse, and they called out Trent's name on the intercom a while ago."

"Oh yeah, I heard that," Courtney replies. "Here's hoping someone fails."

"Haha, I am hearing you," I reply. She begins to laugh.

"What's so funny?" I ask.

"Nothing," Courtney answers. "Let's go back to the boathouse."

 **Trent's POV –**

"Alright, gang, we're in the eighth inning," Chris announces. "Trent, for your challenge, you need to get into this pen for three minutes with these puppies."

He takes off the lid and reveals three beagle puppies.

"You got this, Trent!" Cody cheers.

"Hmm…I'm not sure about this," I say. I'm no actor but I think I was convincing enough.

"Dude, they're puppies. What is wrong with you?" Chris frowns.

"Okay, I think I'm ready," I say, climbing into the pen. "So I just need to stand here?"

"No, you need to pet them too," Chris smirks.

"Alrighty then," I 'catiously' approach the box, and place my hand over one puppy with a black patch over his eye. We used to have two of them, a boy and girl beagle called Max and Jill. But they both passed away when I was 18. Wait, that's in the future now. Now I'm excited to see them again.

"Okay, time's up, Trent. You passed," Chris informs me. That was fast.

"Phew," I say, standing up and wiping 'sweat' off my brow. "Glad that's over."

I get out of the pen and re-join the rest of my team, settling myself beside Gwen.

"Hey, if you're so afraid of beagles, why do you own two of them?" she whsipers to me.

"Shush," I hiss, smiling back.

"Just one challenge left!" Chris announces. "And our participants should be ready about…now."

 **Sadie's POV –**

"Alright, girls, your time is up!" Chef announces from outside, opening the door. "Katie passes."

"Huh?" I say, looking up from pinning Katie to the ground with my elbow.

"And just in time," Chris says, popping out from behind the doorframe. "Sadie, it's your turn."

"Hee-hee," I snigger. "Just desserts."

Katie takes deep breaths as she walks out of the boathouse, with myself right behind her. In front of us there is a wooden chair set up.

"In order to pass your challenge," Chris begins as Chef leads Katie to the chair and ties her arms and legs down with leather belts. "You need to watch Katie get her head shaved without closing your eyes, running away, or yelling for us to stop."

This is it.

The moment that I've been waiting for

Chef turns the razor on.

It comes closer and closer. Slow and steady.

Strange, she's not even protesting. Why is she okay with this?

Does she accept that this is her punishment?

Well, tough luck. It won't nearly be enough. You've had this coming, you nasty little…

She really is going to do whatever it takes to be friends with me again.

Is this going to make me happy? I mean, I'm definitely still mad at her but…shaving her head? That's not gonna change anything. It's her hair. Once that goes, it won't come back for weeks.

The razor is mere millimetres from her hair. What am I doing? What am I…

"STOP!" I scream. "STOP DOING IT! LET HER GO!"

I place my hands over my eyes and burst into tears. Through my fingers I see Chef put the razor back in his pocket, and he loosens the belts on Katie's limbs.

"Sadie, it's okay…" she says, standing up.

"Get away from me!" I scream. I continue to wail as I run away from the rest of the campers.

 **Geoff's POV –**

That was weird.

"And that's it!" Chris exclaims. "Gophers have 8 points, Bass have 6. I'll see you all at the campfire ceremony."

Great. We lose again.

Duncan is the first to leave the pack and head back to camp.

"Yo, Duncan, wait up," I say, running up next to him.

"What now?" he growls back at me.

"I just wanna say…" I rub my arm. "I'm sorry. I did go a bit crazy last night."

"Mm-hm," he nods, unconvinced.

"Zeke wasn't really targeting me, and I didn't mean to give you bogus hope," I add. "What can I do to make you forgive me?"

 **Duncan's POV –**

Geoff doesn't see me smirk at one of the nearby cameras.

"Okay, here's the deal," I say to him, grabbing the collar of his shirt. "We vote my way, or the high-way."

"Got it," he says, and I let him go.

He fixes his hat, "So…Harold, I assume?"

"No, Sadie," I reply.

"Really?"

"What did I just say!?" I snap, shaking my fist at him.

"No, it's cool," he says defensively, adjusting his hat. "Just, you know, why?"

"I just think Sadie's become a liability. She keeps making all these little screw-ups. Harold seems to be learning from his mistakes, at least," I shrug.

"Okay, I hear you. I think," he responds. "Sadie."

Way too easy. I can mould him like Play-doh.

 **Voting confessionals –**

 **Ezekiel: I vote for Harold. It's either him or Sadie, and, hey, it spares me from 'I'm still not over high-school – chapter 577'**

 **Eva: Sadie. You've long outstayed your welcome**

 **Izzy: Hmm…now that DJ's gone, I need a new target. Ah screw it, I'll vote for myself.**

 **Courtney: [takes a deep breath] Okay, time to earn Sadie and Zeke's trust.**

 **Harold's POV –**

Okay. I'll get through this.

I know I'm not safe tonight, being one of only two people to fail their challenges tonight, but I have hope.

I voted for Sadie. I don't feel good about it, since she seems to be Ezekiel's friend, but I really want to get far, and unfortunately you can't always do the noble thing.

The Gophers have joined us tonight too. I'm not sure why. Wait, could this be something to do with…

"Campers, there are eight marshmallows on this plate. The following Killer Bass are safe…"

…

"Ezekiel."

…

"Eva."

…

"Courtney."

…

"Geoff."

…

"Duncan."

…

"Izzy."

…

Oh well, I expected to come this close. Still, I can't help but feel nervous. I know I've pulled my weight so far, but for some people, enough is never enough. The human race is strange like that.

"Harold, Sadie, the two of you did not your challenges today. One of you may be going home tonight and cannot return…ever.

The contestants who got the most votes tonight is…"

Gosh, this is it. In just a moment I will learn whether my fate is to continue in this game, or be doomed to a life of petroleum and pensioners. Really, some old folk come into the store every day looking for scratch cards. They don't realise it's actually a scam.

I look at Sadie, I look at the other contestants, I look at the plate before us, bearing its last two symbols of freedom.

"Hang on a second…" I say aloud.

"Quiet," Chris hisses at me. "Sadie. Sadie got the most votes."

Her face falls as Chris tosses me a 'mallow.

"Thanks. So does this mean…"

"Harold, personal space!" Chris snaps, shooing me away.

"I was just asking. Gosh!"

I fold my arms and sit back down.

"That's right. As some of you may have figured out, there is one more fear to be faced," Chris says. I see the Queen Bee herself stand up. "Heather, what will it be? Will you spare Sadie and get rid of Gwen, or let the Bass suffer their loss?"

"Ooh, this is hard," Heather says, touching her index fingers together. "I…I think I'll let Gwen leave."

People on both teams let out gasps.

"Girl, what are you doing? We already won the challenge!" Leshawna shouts at her.

"I know, but, this is…uh…something I need to do. On a personal level," Heather stutters. "I'm sorry, guys."

I swear I see smoke coming out of Luscious Leshawna's ears as Gwen gets up and approaches the Dock of Shame.

"Bye, guys," she says, turning to face them as the Boat of Losers arrives.

"That'll be all, Gophers. You can return to camp," Chris tells them.

"This is complete BS!" Leshawna snaps as she stomps off with the rest of them.

"And because of that turn of events, the teams return to an even playing field," Chris concludes. "Sadie, you're safe. For now."

The girl lets out a long sigh as she is handed her marshmallow.

"As for me, my massage appointment is in 20 minutes. See ya!" Chris exclaims, before dashing off, leaving the rest of us to roast our treats over the fire.

"Good game," I tell Sadie, standing next to her.

"Thanks," she says, smiling back.

 **Heather's POV –**

'This game just keeps getting better and better,' I think to myself as I return to the cabin

Sure, I could have waited for our team to lose again, but there's a good bit of time between each episode. I don't know what's going to happen by then. I'm going to take opportunities as I see them.

Ah, that was a good shower. Now for some rest.

Hey, the knob isn't moving.

"Hey, what gives?" I frown. "Guys, what's going on?"

"Heather, is that you?" Katie calls out.

"Yeah, the knob isn't working. Let me in."

"Hmm...have you thought about moving the chair on the other side?" Lindsay asks.

"The what!?" I snap. "Leshawna, I swear…"

"Get lost, girl," the fatty says. "If I were you, I'd shut up and sleep on the porch."

"You're not getting away with this!" I scream, banging on the door several more times.

* * *

 **Votes**

 **Sadie (4) – Geoff, Duncan, Eva, Harold (not counted)**

 **Harold (3) – Sadie, Courtney, Ezekiel (not counted)**

 **Izzy (1) – Izzy (not counted)**

 **Gwen (1) – Heather**

 **That chapter was a lot of fun to write. Having everyone use the challenge to their advantage – often at the expense of other people. Things went in directions I never expected.**

 **And yeah, I hated having to get rid of Gwen, but there was an opportunity for Heather to get ahead and I had to take it. Sorry to all her fans**

 **As always, fav and follow if you haven't already and review whatever your opinion. I'll see you all next time**


	8. Episode 8

**Disclaimer: I don't own Total Drama. Ideally, nobody would own anything and we'd collectively harvest the wheat and reap the profits together**

 **Yeah, that sounds nice on paper…**

 **Disclaimer: Shut up liberal**

 **Anywho…another quick update. I'm on a roll at the moment. I meant to alternate back and forth between this fic and Euro-Drama Scholarised, but I'm on an inspiration high at the moment, so may as well keep going.**

 **Without further ado, let's begin episode 8**

* * *

 **Izzy's POV –**

As Chris walks over to announce the challenge to us, I mentally go through my plan for the day.

Easily maneuverable escape route. Check

Rucksack with dried food and water. Check

What was the next step again? Darn it!

Ah, it's okay, there's time after the challenge.

"Bass, Gophers, today's challenge is a true summercamp experience. A canoe trip. You'll be paddling your canoes across the lake to Boney Island. When you get there you must portage your canoes to the other side of the island which is about a 2 hour hike through thick, dense jungle."

"Eek!" I hear Katie squeak from the Gopher mob.

"When you arrive at the other end of the island, you'll build a rescue that will be judged by me. The first team to paddle home and return their canoes to the beach is the winner of invincibility."

Silly Chris. Silly Billy Chris.

"Move, campers, move!"

The only people to start running are Lindsay and Eva. Everyone else stays put since they know that la-di-da about the curse is coming up.

 **Duncan's POV –**

"Now, get in your canoes and let's have some fun."

As we make our way to the boats, I stand in the centre of the Bass cluster.

"Alright, let's just make the pairs now so we don't waste time taking off," I suggest, snapping my finger.

"Silly Duncan. Silly Billy Duncan," Izzy giggles. I shoot her a raised eyebrow.

"So, I'll go with Geoff," I say, patting the little shit himself on the back. "And…uh…"

"Sadie, shall we?" Courtney asks, giving the fatter twin a little nudge.

"Um…okay," Sadie replies. She sounds rather down, but I don't really care why.

"I guess that leaves Ezekiel with Harold, and…"

"No! Not a chance!" Eva snaps, pointing at Izzy. "Anyone but her."

"I'll go with her," Ezekiel volunteers, raising his hand and standing beside the psycho girl. I can't help but notice him take a sigh of relief.

Eva takes one look at Harold and notices his teeth chattering.

"Calm yourself, dork. I won't waste my energy on you," she sighs, rolling her eyes.

"So it's settled," I say, hitting my fist into my palm. "Canoes, everyone."

 **Trent's POV –**

I've been doing a lot of sighing lately. Well, since the last elimination at least. I just can't believe it.

Gwen's gone. And in the most contrived way ever. It isn't fair. She deserved that money. After all she went through in the years to come…

"Yo, Trent. What you standin' about for?" Leshawna asks as she passes me down the steps. "Partners?"

"Sure," I say, plodding my way down the steps.

"Hey," she adds in a lower tone, putting a hand on my shoulder. "I'm pissed about Gwen's elimination too. That nasty b**ch is gonna get her ass whooped. But we gotta keep goin' forward. For her."

"I know," I nod. "It's just…it was so stupid. The way she made up a fake fear like that – how did the show ever accept it?"

"We'll talk more on the boat," Leshawna says, pointing at one of the green canoes. "We gotta set sail first."

 **Cody's POV –**

Okay, here goes…

I approach Owen and Noah, who are on their way to the canoe on the far left.

"Hey, Owen," I greet. They both turn to look at me.

"So…I was thinking," I say, scratching the back of my head. "You guys are always doing everything together. What do you say you switch things up and go with me?"

"Huh?" Owen responded, shaking his head. "Sure Cody, I don't see why not."

"What are you up to?" Noah asks, squinting his eyes at me.

 **Noah's POV –**

What are you talking about? I've spent 90% of the last couple weeks around Katie. Only managed to get a break from her today because Lindsay snagged her first.

That's when I notice Heather strolling about on her own behind us. Sweat is dripping down Cody's face.

I let out a scoff as I leave the other two and make my way towards her. Cody, you are so pathetic.

 **Sadie's POV –**

"Alright, just push a little bit harder," Courtney instructs from inside the water, holding on to the other side of the canoe. "That's it. You've got it. Hop in."

She takes the front seat and I clamber on at the back.

"I'm really glad you're still here," she says as she begins to paddle. "That ceremony last night was crazy."

"Yeah…" I say in response. Honestly, the fact that I almost got voted off completely slipped my mind until now.

What the heck happened in the challenge yesterday? I'd been looking forward to that challenge all day. I thought I'd take great satisfaction in seeing each and every strand of her hair leave her head, leaving her bald scalp exposed to the world.

In the moment, I just completely lost it. I couldn't bear to see it actually happen. What's going on? Did I feel bad for her? Why? She's a horrible person. But she wants us to be friends again…she doesn't deserve me. But is that true?

"Hey…could we try and establish a rhythm? The boat keeps turning back and forth," Courtney says, turning her head to look back at me.

"Oh…sure," I sigh, slowly nodding my head as Courtney chants, "1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4…do you want me to go a little slower?"

I don't respond. I just look down at my shoes and keep paddling.

"Is everything okay?" she asks.

"Yeah…" I respond, almost automatically. "I mean…that elimination. It…uh…really got to my head."

"Mm-hmm," Courtney nods. "It just goes to show you – nobody is safe in these games."

"You said it," I add. That girl never closes her mouth, does she?

 **Katie's POV –**

I'm feeling good right now.

For the last few weeks, I've had this voice in my head. A voice telling me that Sadie and I are over for good and I'm a horrible person for ever choosing to take that job.

But not after yesterday. Sadie did it. She showed a sign of remorse. She went back on wanting to shave my head and leave me bald. She still cares. And I know it might take a while before she realises, but I like progress.

I'm at the front of the canoe and Lindsay is giggling to herself at the back. I turn my head for a second.

She notices me and brushes her hair back. "I still can't believe we locked Heather out."

"I know. She got, like, super mad," I reply as I continue to paddle. "Serves her right for getting rid of Gwen when we didn't even lose."

"Oh, totally," Lindsay agrees. "So…how are things between you and Noah?"

I'm about to answer when she adds, "Hmm, I don't really know him that well. He's always hanging out with Caitlyn."

"Excuse me?"

"You just asked me how things are between me and Noah."

"Uh no…you asked that question."

"Did I?" she says in confusion. "Oh my God, you're right. I'm such a doofus."

I giggle in response. "Now that you mention it, we do kind of sound alike."

She gasps, "Yes, you're right. That's so weird."

 **Heather's POV –**

"Noah," I say from the front of the boat. "How nice of you to join me today. Very…nice."

"Lindsay asked Katie first, and Cody wanted to go with Owen, alright? No need to be so dramatic," he shoots back.

"Haha, Noah, I always did appreciate your kind words," I giggle.

"Hey, I'm just following your footsteps," he responds. Cheeky. "You know, it's good that we can talk. I have some plans for the game…"

"All my decisions are final," I interrupt.

"I suggested changing our target at both ceremonies and you agreed," Noah points out.

I let out a sigh, "Alright. What is it?"

"Ok…I was thinking now that we have control of 5 out of 8 Gophers, we should start cutting people loose," he suggests.

"What? Noah, you are not getting rid of Katie that easily," I scoff.

"Well…Katie wasn't my first choice," Noah adds, putting a finger to his chin.

"And you are especially crazy if you think I'll get rid of Cody!" I snap at him

"Why? The guy's not the most strong-willed. He could crack any day now."

"Noah, this conversation is over!" I shout.

We spend the rest of the journey paddling in silence.

 **Ezekiel's POV –**

Things have been okay so far. Izzy and I made a bit of small-talk but things have been calm.

"Uh…Izzy," I say. "Can you row a bit harder, we're starting to turn to the le-ACK!"

Izzy is poking me in the butt with her oar

"Ooh, that is firm!" she giggles. "You must work out a lot."

"Uh…sort of. I help about on the farm a lot, we grow wheat and barley," I say.

"It's paid off," she says in a dreamy tone.

"Can you…um…stop it perhaps? It's making me a bit uncomfortable, eh,"

"Silly Zeke," she laughs. "Silly Billy Zeke."

Why does she keep saying that?

"You know nothing about the real world, do you? It's totally normal behaviour for boys and girls to touch each other. It's a sign of friendship, you know?"

"Really?"

"Yeah, the butt, the chest, the feet. Anywhere is good," she says, her tone getting slower and smoother.

"Is it? Well, I won't be taking part in it. It sounds kind of disrespectful, eh."

She lets out a snort, "Zeke, you haven't changed since day 1."

"What do you mean?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

"I guess you think you're behind all this sexism stuff," she says. "Just because you know men aren't actually smarter and stronger."

Well, biologically…no, Ezekiel, don't go there.

"Buuuut…you are still clueless when it comes to how a lady really likes to be treated," she continues. "You probably think stuff like holding the door open is noble."

"It's not?" I ask, intrigued.

"No way. You're implying a woman can't open the door herself – it's a very patronising practice."

You want to know what patronising is? You should listen to half the stuff Harold has said to me since I got here.

"I never thought of it that way, eh."

"No need to thank me. Western culture can be a little strange, but you get used to it," Izzy says. "Let's try and go a little faster."

The worst part is I can't tell if she's being serious or not. I know this is Izzy I'm talking to, but then again, how much do I really know?

 **Harold's POV –**

Eva and I paddle in silence. We barely said anything on the ride over, other than her occasionally asking me to pick up the pace. Gosh, these oars are heavy. And it's getting harder to steer with all the smoke everywhere.

"Woo! We made it!" Izzy cheers, doing a somersault off the canoe about three metres from the shore. This takes Ezekiel by surprise and he falls backwards off the other side.

"Woah! Are you alright?" I ask, getting out of the boat as soon as Eva and I reach the shore. "I'll get you."

"Calm down, I'm fine!" Ezekiel exclaims as he re-emerges. He grabs the boat and swims it to the shore. He shoots Izzy a look as he walks across the sand, dripping wet.

"Let's go, peewee," Eva sighs, holding our boat in the air.

"Yes ma'am," I reply, rushing over to catch the stern, but she hoists it higher in the air and marches off without me. Why did she bother calling me then?

 **Geoff's POV –**

Everyone walks through Boney Island's thick forest at a leisurely pace. I guess everyone knows that it doesn't matter who wins since the RCMP will come after Izzy either way.

I let out a small laugh as Izzy and Ezekiel ménage past us. Home-school is still soaked from falling into the water. He looks back at me and scowls, only to get jolted by Izzy.

"Keep it up, Zekey. We need to act like we mean it," she says aloud.

Now I laugh out loud as the two of the suddenly run ahead of the rest of us.

"Yeah, funny," I hear Duncan say sarcastically, and I scowl back.

"There's no need for that," I frown.

"Psh, whatever," he shoots back.

 **Owen's POV –**

I whistle to myself as me and Cody carry our boat along with the rest of the contestants. That's when we hear rustles in the bushes.

"What was that?" Katie gasps. There's a pause as the monster beavers creep out and surround us from one side.

"Aw, s**t, I forgot the bread," Cody groans, and then we all start running.

"Oh, don't worry," I assure him as we struggle to keep up with the rest of the two teams. "That doesn't come in until the vultures. And they won't come out as long as I don't fart."

"Dude, you have way too much time on your hands," Geoff remarks as he and Duncan run past us. Duncan snorts at this comment.

I sigh. He's right. And, honestly, it's part of a bigger problem. I've always felt insecure by the idea that I peaked at 16, and nothing else I do will ever top it. Maybe that's why I took part in so many reality shows after my Total Drama run ended. I just always chased the high of one day achieving another victory. And now I may be living in a universe where even that one win is gone. It's…it's scary.

Alright, we've reached the puddle. The monster beavers are running away. Okay, Owen, you have one job. Don't fart. Don't even think about farting. Aw, dang it, now it's all I can think about. Can those beavers get out of sight already?

 **Lindsay's POV**

We're back to walking on the path. The two teams arrive side by side at the pitchfork in the road.

"Which way?" Heather asks from the front of the group.

"Right!" Odin shouts out. "Ecosbay the Icksanquay."

"Is that Spanish?" I ask allowed.

"Works for me," Heather shrubs, and both teams head to the right.

 **Heather's POV –**

"What is even the point of this challenge?" Noah asks as we arrive at the beach. "Building the fire had, like, no effect on the challenge."

"We were meant to get a minute head-start, but it didn't really make a difference since all the Bass' oars got burned," I reply. "Let's split up and find some twigs."

"Good thinking. Get this over with," Noah shrugs, and he walks off.

Noah is right about one thing. The rest of my allies could crack at any time, so it's important that we lose as few challenges as possible. In order to make sure this happens, I'm going to plant something from this island on one of the members of the Bass, and if things go as plan, they'll lose challenge after challenge.

I dive into one of the bushes in search of something. Chris said that it could be anything, so I'm not going to waste time trying to plant some full-sized tiki doll. A small pebble should do just fine.

I take the first one I see on the sand and keep it in my fist. Now, who to plant it on? I need someone who is likely to stick around for a while, since the curse will be broken as soon as they're voted off. That's what happened to Beth anyway.

Izzy is out obviously, and Sadie would have been eliminated yesterday if it wasn't for me. I'm not counting on Zeke staying much longer since he was booted first twice, Harold is, well, Harold….

I know. I'll plant it on Duncan. He's made it to the merge every time, so he's doing something right. I can count on him sticking around for a while.

But how to approach him?

 **Duncan's POV –**

I've just finished giving our fire the lighter treatment, now it's time to be a team player and gather loads of twigs. I walk through the outskirts of the forest, find one tree with lots of small branches, and start breaking them off. There's quite a few, but I take my time, after all…

Why do I feel something on the side of my butt?

"Huh?" I say out loud. "Heather?"

The empress herself is behind me, feeling me up.

"Duncan, I…" she says hesitantly, putting her hands behind her back. "I didn't mean that. I…uh…lost my contacts. My sight is blurry as hell."

"Heather, I know why you're really here," I say, shooting her a sly grin.

"No you d-don't," she stutters.

"I always suspected you had a thing for me," I add, clicking my tongue.

She lets out a sigh, "Okay. But it's just physical. I'd never go out with you – I don't want to be wrapped up in all your crap."

"Honestly, the feeling's mutual," I shrug. "But if you ever want to have a one-night-stand or anything, I'm up for it."

"Hmm…maybe after the game," Heather giggles, and she waves me goodbye.

Wow – I may become the first guy to hook up with three girls on this show.

 **Courtney's POV –**

Walking. Gathering sticks. Pretending that the outcome of this challenge actually matters.

That's when I hear a sobbing sound. It's coming from inside the bushes.

"Sadie?" I call, noticing her curled up inside.

"Leave me alone," she whimpers.

"Are you okay?"

"I said go away!" she yells.

"Look," I say, starting to make my way into the bushes. "If this is about almost being eliminated…"

"What is with you?" she snaps. "You think people are only focused on the game. Not all of us are mindless robots."

"What do you…"

She continues to cry, "I know you don't really care about me or Zeke. You just want allies on your side."

"Sadie, you know that's not true. I love hanging out with you guys," I say, bending over and crawling into the bush. "What's really going on?"

"What part of 'leave me alone' do you not understand?" she groaned.

"Okay, you just need to be alone," I sigh, crawling back out. "But if you want to talk about it, I'm always here."

Sadie says nothing in response, so I run off and go back to helping our team.

 **Eva's POV –**

"Are you nearly ready?" I ask impatiently, peering over Izzy.

"Yep. This fire will be made before you can say 'red lorry, yellow lorry' ten times in a row," she replies, standing back up with her signature fire-starter in her hands.

"That's promising," I say sarcastically. "Code red! Everyone run for cover!"

All of the Gophers and most of the Bass immediately evacuate the beach as Izzy hurls her tree-sap ball at our fire, causing the atomic explosion that happened the first time.

"Point to the Killer Bass!" Chris announces from his helicopter.

 **Leshawna's POV –**

The Bass are predictably in the lead with their minute-long head start, but I'm determined to get the Gophers back first. There's no point in over-complicating the elimination.

"Let's pick it up a little," I murmur to Trent, who nods in response.

We paddle for a bit more, and then hear an 'Ouch!' from behind. We both look and we see Geoff letting out a groan before tumbling into the water. Duncan is holding up his oar in the air, but quickly gets back to paddling.

"Aw, man," Geoff groans, rubbing his head. "What did you do that for?"

"It was an accident," Duncan sighs, rolling his eyes. "Just get back on."

Geoff tries to grab the side of the boat, but he seems a bit dazed, because he has trouble getting back on.

Duncan lets out an impatient scoff and reaches his hand, but Geoff doesn't seem to notice and ends up flipping the boat over.

"For crying out loud," Eva groans, and she and Harold paddle backwards to try and help them out. "The rest of you keep going. Nothing to see here."

The remaining two Bass boats keep paddling, but I doubt it will make a difference.

Ezekiel and Izzy are first to land at the beach, with Courtney and Sadie not far behind.

"Congratulations," Chris says, clapping slowly. "Unfortunately it looks like you're missing half your team."

"That is correct, but we did have a legitimate emergency," Courtney counters just as Trent and I land and leave our boat. "You see, Duncan and Geoff fell out of their boat and I'm pretty sure the latter has a concussion."

"That's nice, but the challenge must go on," Chris shrugs. "You must bring all of your members back in order to win."

What do you care, girl? You're down a player no matter what.

During Chris and Courtney's quarrel, the rest of the team arrives. Owen and Cody, Heather and Noah, and finally Lindsay and Katie.

"The Screaming Gophers win!" Chris announces, and the rest of the team erupts into half-assed cheering. It was hard for anyone to give a s**t today.

 **Ezekiel's POV –**

I find a spot on the grass to just sit in silence, and comtemplate what's happened so far. I'm feeling alright at the moment. When I first came here, my aim was to get back home and re-unite with my family. But now I'm happy I tried a bit harder – I haven't done too badly in the challenges, and I've found friends in Sadie and Courtney. If I go home in an episode or two, I'll still feel fulfilled.

"Hey," Eva says from behind me.

"Waugh!" I shout, clutching my heart as I turn to face her.

"Damn, am I really that scary?" she groans.

"No…I was just…in my own world, eh," I say hesitantly.

"Right. Anyhow, Izzy told me to find you. She wants to talk to you in the cabin," Eva says.

"Uh…okay," I respond. "I'll go see what she wants."

I get up and dust myself down before walking back across the field.

…

I step into the girls' side of the cabin, where Izzy is busy throwing things into a suitcase. Among other things, I notice a litre bottle of water, a clear plastic bag full of nuts and raisins, and a sleeping bag.

"Hey, Eva said you wanted me," I greet, tipping my hat.

"Zeke," she says, still facing away. "It's so good to see you. How have you been?"

"Fine, eh. Just been keeping to myself this evening," I reply, scratching my head.

"Have you voted for anyone yet?"

"No. I was going to do it later, eh."

"Well, I voted for me. I want to make history, Zeke," she says with a sly grin. "Be the first person on this show to get 100% of the vote."

"Uh-huh. So…uh…is there anything you'd like me to do?" I do ask.

"Oh, Ezekiel, just you being here is enough. I want this moment to be special," she sighs, putting a hand on my shoulder. "I am definitely going to miss you most of all."

Are you sure? We barely spoke to each other before today.

"Beautiful, handsome Ezekiel," she says smoothly, pulling me into an embrace and running her fingers down my back. "With your rugged shoulders, and your woolly hat and…that gorgeous face."

She suddenly grabs me and kisses me full on the lips. I'm completely taken aback. And yet I'm compelled to kiss back. I'm not sure if I'm doing it right since I've never done this before. At least not with another human.

"Ahh…" she exhales in satisfaction. "Well, it's time for me to depart. Promise you'll be strong and win for us?"

"Uh…" I'm too mesmerised by what just happened to say anything.

"Great. Goodbye Ezekiel," she giggles, grabbing her sack and leaving the cabin.

Did she seriously just do that?

 **Eva's POV –**

"And now the always anxiety inducing marshmallow ceremony. When I call your name, come and get a marshmallow."

The all-knowing host somehow hasn't noticed that Izzy is missing. I see she's done an early runner. Let's see if she can survive longer than a few hours.

Oh yeah, like I tried to say before I got eliminated last time, Izzy lied about being in the woods. She got caught by the RCMP around midnight of her elimination, went to court and was sentenced to 12 months in juvie, but Teletoon managed to bribe the authorities and free her, and she showed up at Playa Des Losers a day before Sadie's elimination.

So if you're ever wondering how the show got away with almost killing us several times, consider yourselves enlightened.

"Eva."

"Geoff."

"Duncan."

"Ezekiel."

"Sadie."

"Harold."

Only Courtney is left. This is when Chris finally raises an eyebrow, "Where's Izzy?"

Courtney raises her hand, "Izzy seems to have…disappeared. All her stuff is gone too."

"Okay…" Chris said in disbelief. "No matter, she got votes from everyone tonight, including herself strangely enough. Courtney, you're safe."

Courtney smiles as she gets up to claim the final marshmallow.

"Well, that wraps that up. Night everyone."

 **Courtney's POV –**

Several RCMP planes fly over the island as the seven of us head back to our cabin.

Well, most of us. I need to walk around for a bit. Get some air.

The rest of them head to bed, but Ezekiel spots me and makes his way over.

"Hey," I greet as he scratches under his hat.

"Hi," he responds. "Congrats on getting through the last vote, eh."

"No big deal," I shrug. "It's not like I actually got any votes."

He looks down at his shoes while I talk.

"Are you okay?" I ask.

"Yeah, it's just…uh…" he touches his index fingers together. "I wanted to ask you something."

"Sure. What did you want to ask about?" I ask sweetly.

"Well…is it okay for a boy to touch a girl's butt without asking?"

My mouth drops open. Did he really just ask me that?

"No," I reply sharply. "It's definitely not okay. It's against the law in most places. Never do it."

"Alright, got it," he nods. "It's just…Izzy told me it was okay, and I didn't know if she was lying."

"Yes, she was lying. That girl is nuts," Courtney confirms.

"I know. Forget I asked," he sighs.

"No, I'm happy you asked. I'm glad you didn't actually try it."

"I…uh…wasn't actually going to do it. It seemed impolite, eh," Ezekiel says.

"I see. So, why did you ask then?"

Ezekiel starts to go red. "Um…eh…uh."

"Ezekiel, I'm kidding," I giggle, giving him a light punch in the chest. I sigh, "You're good for having a laugh with. Good night."

I walk off. Sometimes I forget how inexperienced Ezekiel is. He actually seems like a normal person most of the time, and then slip ups like that happen.

I feel so bad for him. He's gone through so much. My last half a decade or so hasn't exactly been stellar, but…getting stranded in the Canadian wilderness and turned feral? I can't comprehend how horrible that must have been.

I might stay out a bit longer. I have a lot to think about.

 **Geoff's POV**

I walk into the cabin with a gel-pack to my head. Harold has already settled down, and Ezekiel is reading a chemistry text-book. What a dork.

"Hey dude, are you alright?" Duncan asks, looking up from carving raindrops into the bedpost.

"What do you think? You hit me in the head and gave me a concussion," I snap at him.

"It…was…an…accident!" Duncan snaps back.

"Really? You just decided to hold your oar in the air for no reason?" I say, rolling my eyes. "I don't know what you're up to, Duncan, but I don't like it."

"Haha, whatever cupcake," Duncan shrugs, placing his pocket-knife on the bedside table.

I grit my teeth, but this just makes him laugh even more.

"Is this some kind of joke to you…"

"Guys, I'm trying to sleep. Gosh!" Harold snaps, raising his head.

"You heard the man," Duncan says, pulling off his shorts and tossing them on the ground. "Say goodnight, Geoff."

"Goodnight, Geoff," I growl as I take off my shirt. I turn my head and notice Harold snorting his stupid head off.

"What?" I frown.

"I'll explain in the morning, _les incompetents,_ " Harold replies with a sly grin.

"What?"

* * *

 **Votes –**

 **Izzy (8) – Courtney, Duncan, Eva, Ezekiel, Geoff, Harold, Izzy, Sadie**

 **Eliminated: Justin, Tyler, Bridgette, Beth, DJ, Gwen, Izzy**

 **Remaining Screaming Gophers: Cody, Heather, Katie, Leshawna, Lindsay, Noah, Owen, Trent**

 **Remaining Killer Bass: Courtney, Duncan, Eva, Ezekiel, Geoff, Harold, Sadie**

 **And Izzy is the next to leave, in the same episode as canon. Obviously her elimination was kind of inevitable, but she still made somewhat of an impact. Ezekiel may never realise what hit him.**

 **This chapter's a bit shorter than the others, I'll admit, but hopefully it wasn't too much of a setback.**

 **As always, review whatever your opinion, and I will see you next time. *dramatic fade out***


	9. Episode 9

**Yo, it's been three months. I had stuff going on. Studying, state exams, existential crisis... but I'm back. Well, I also updated Euro-Drama in early June but who the hell cares about that fic?**

* * *

 **Ezekiel's POV**

" _Ignore what Courtney said," Izzy says to me as she peers over my shoulder. "Us modern folk do whatever we want."_

 _I let out a gasp as she shoves her fist up my butt, and it phases out of my stomach._

" _Augh!" I exclaim. "How did you…"_

" _I survived the Horse-radish Famine of '99 – I can do anything," she says slowly. "I can even…"_

This rather disturbing sequence is interrupted when we are awoken by the sound of a helicopter flying over the cabins.

"Ugh," I groan as I stretch my arms and put on my hat.

I'd usually be up by now, but I did not sleep at all last night. Too many questions on my mind. Why did Izzy miss me most of all? Why did she grope me several times? Should I tell Owen about all this?

As I pull on a white t-shirt, I hear Harold say to Geoff, "By the way, I was laughing last night because I thought you were making a reference to the original Home Alone movie."

"Cool story," Geoff remarks, rolling his eyes.

"Hey, someone left their shorts on the ground. And gosh do they smell," Harold says, pointing at a pair of teal boxers on the ground.

"I'm pretty sure those are Duncan's, eh," I say as I put my arms into the sleeves of my hoody.

"Wow, that guy sure is gross," Harold continues. "What do you say we teach him a lesson?"

He looks at Geoff with a cocky grin. The party guy bursts out laughing. He bends over and clutches the sides of his chest.

Harold looks back at me. Even I can't help but laugh a little.

"Fine, be that way," Harold growls. "I'm going for a shower."

He grabs a towel from one of the drawers and marches out of the cabin. Geoff and I continue to laugh after he has left.

We turn around after noticing Duncan yawn. He sits up and cracks his knuckles.

"Are you only awake now?" Geoff asks as he slips into his sandals.

"No," Duncan chuckles. "I just couldn't be bothered to deal with him at this hour."

"Fair, fair," I nod.

 **Owen's POV**

"Are you ready for today's extreme, max impact challenge!?" Chris shouts.

"Yes!" I shout, startling Noah beside me.

"Incoming!"

Chris hurls a tin of brown beans towards us, and Trent catches it.

"This is breakfast."

He continues to throw them to us one by one.

"Beans?" I hear Ezekiel say, examining his can.

"Based on nutrition, it's probably the healthiest thing we've had all season," Noah shrugs.

"Beans, beans…" I begin, only for tins to hit the side of my head from different sides.

Big Bang, Great Pyramids, Wall of China…

 **Eva's POV**

That would have been way more satisfying if Heather hadn't done the same thing at the same time.

"Today's challenge is about survival. We're going hunting."

"What kind of gun is that?" Ezekiel asks, walking over to Chris

"I'm glad you asked, Ezekiel," Chris replies. "This is a paintball gun."

He proceeds to hit Zeke in the stomach, and he falls to the ground.

"This is the first ever paintball deer hunt. I'll announce the teams once we get into the woods. So…finish brekkie."

I pull off the lid using my pinky finger. Noah is right. This is probably the first source of protein I've had in weeks.

 **Katie's POV**

The two teams gather in the woods, except Owen who is still unconscious back at the fire pit. Damn is Eva a hard thrower.

"And now for the team breakdowns. The Killer Bass hunters are…Courtney, Harold and Sadie. Locked and loaded with Bass blue paint."

"I thought the Bass logo was red," I say to Noah, who has his arm around me.

"Haha, you're rubbing off on me," he chuckles, giving me a dig in the arm.

"And using orange paint are the Gopher hunters – Katie, Leshawna, Lindsay and Owen as soon as he's conscious again."

Phew. I inspect my red paintball gun. I'm glad I'm a hunter too, otherwise I would be Sadie's first target. Unless she's had a change of mind – I can't tell at this point.

"You also get these styling glasses and wicked camo caps. The rest of you are now deer. Here are your antlers, noses and little white tails."

"No way," Eva says, her arms folded.

"I can't say I'm happy about this either," Noah agrees, shaking his head.

"Aw come on, you'd look so cute with those antlers," I giggle, caressing his cheek.

"Take these off, and your team is toast," Chris says, shoving the antlers and nose on Eva.

"Alright, deer, get your costumes on and head into the woods."

"See you later, deer," I giggle, kissing Noah on the cheek.

 **Geoff's POV**

This is so unfair. I was a hunter last time. Courtney and Sadie are supposed to be deer. This game is out to get me.

"Shoot, I was really hoping to be a hunter," Ezekiel says. "I got great aim. I bag moose and deer for my family all the time back home."

"Same. I was hoping for another antler collision," Duncan adds from in front, letting out a sigh.

"You are one sick dude, you know that?" Eva, who is walking behind us, remarks.

Duncan turns around and puts an elbow on Ezekiel's shoulder. "Thank you," he shoots Eva a toothy smile. "I'm finding somewhere to hide."

With that, he turns left into one of the intersections.

"His elbows are really pointy," I hear Zeke murmur.

"Yeah, I'm out of here too," Eva adds, turning right.

Just me and Home-school left. Actually, I might stick with him for this challenge. He's not so bad to be around, and besides, he lived in these woods for years so he probably knows the area.

"So…" I begin, putting my hands in my short pockets. "Know any good hiding spots?"

Ezekiel turns his head, "You want to team up with me?"

"Sure," I shrug. "For the team."

"Alright, eh. I know some good places," Zeke replies, continuing to walk straight on.

"Lead the way. You're the boss," I chuckle as I adjust my antlers.

 **Noah's POV**

The four Gopher deer wander through the forest. Heather and Trent look pretty irritated, but I'm just relieved to be away from Katie for a while.

"You okay?" I ask Cody, who is shaking a bit.

"I-I…" Cody replies, slowly turning his head.

"If you're so worried, climb a tree or something. Whatever species of bear is in this woods seems to immune to that sort of thing," I tell him. As for me. I'll probably head back to the cabins and read. Chris never said we couldn't leave the woods – and Beth had no problem getting to the kitchen last time.

Cody has already headed off, and Trent takes a turn to the right. Two down, one to go.

Heather and I walk. Side by side. We look left and right, we look at each other.

"I hope you know we're splitting up," she says snarkily.

"Of course. Just waiting for you to go first," I shoot back.

We walk for a bit longer, then she sighs, "Well?"

"We don't have the same plan, do we?" I ask.

Heather scoffs, "As if."

We both turn away from each, and then we run off in the same direction.

"I knew it!" I shout.

 **Courtney's POV –**

"And break!" Harold exclaims after he, Sadie and I press our hands together.

"Let's go out there and kick some Gopher butt!" Sadie cheers.

"Haha, you said it," I laugh.

"I wasn't talking to you," Sadie says, shooting me a glare.

"Ladies, put your differences aside for the team," Harold says, putting an arm around both of us. "We're a player down, and we can't make it two."

"Yeah, of course," Sadie says, adjusting her cap.

"Now, here's the plan. We'll travel in a pack…"

"Uh-uh. I work alone," Sadie insists.

"But Sadie, from a practical standpoint…" Harold begins to lecture, but it's too late. Sadie has already walked into the woods.

"Oh well. There's still two of us," I say, trying to sound as enthusiastic as possible. Spending an afternoon with Harold isn't exactly ideal, but I don't need to get on the bad side of more people.

"Actually, I'm starting to get what Sadie is saying. We'd…uh…I'm a lone wolf."

With that, he also sets off.

Is he still afraid of me? That's kind of sad, I'll admit.

Oh well. At least I'm not a deer this time.

 **Leshawna's POV**

"Start your paintballs. Game on!" Chris announces over the intercom, right when I come at Owen with a jug of cold water.

"Arrrgh. That's not my soap!" Owen cries as his eyes pop open. "Woah, where am I?"

"Eva knocked you out, and we're about to start the paintball challenge," I tell him.

"Ah, yes," Owen nods with a fiendish grin, standing up and positioning his gun. "This should be a blast."

Owen marches off into the woods, leaving us three girls behind.

"Lindsay, do you want to hear a great idea?" Katie asks, giving the blonde a nudge with her elbow.

"High heels with a secret lip-gloss compartment?" Lindsay responds.

"No, though I would totally buy that," Katie says. "I was thinking we should team up together for the challenge."

"Oh my gosh, that's a great idea!" Lindsay exclaims, and they both start squee-ing their heads off.

"Leshawna, do you wanna join too?" Katie asks me.

"Hmm? Oh, no thanks. I'll go on my own. We'll cover more ground that way," I reply, and I set off. In truth I just don't think I could stand being around the 'Squealing Sisters' for a whole day.

Hopefully I'll do a lot better than last time now that I have my contacts in. Now where to look?

 **Trent's POV**

I chose to go it alone in this challenge. I mean, I do think it would be safer to travel in a pair, but everyone else seemed to have their own plan so this is what I'm doing.

This is a nice, calm woods. I could come here and work on my music on my own. Somehow I feel it's a magical place.

And somehow I feel I'm not alone.

I let out a yelp as a bunch of blue paintballs come flying my way. I duck just in time and they hit the trees or the bushes.

I let out a sigh of relief, only to get hit square in the chest.

"Ouch!" I groan, clutching myself.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to hit that hard," Courtney says, popping out from behind a shrub. "They should really have given you some armour."

"It's okay. It's all part of the challenge," I shrug.

We both walk beside each other and smile nervously.

"So…" Courtney says, playing at her hair.

Yeah, any interaction between us was inevitably going to be awkward.

"I'm sorry Gwen got eliminated," Courtney says.

"Yeah, uh, me too," I agree. Now I'm reminded of all the horrible stuff she did. Writing out that plan, trying to backstab Gwen and exploit Scott…very bitchy things on her part. "I'm sorry Izzy is gone."

"It was inevitable," Courtney shrugs. "So…I better return to hunting."

"Yeah," I nod. "I might…uh…return to camp now that I'm hit."

"Of course," Courtney nods.

I turn back, and walk through the woods alone for a bit, only to get hit by another splat of blue paint.

"Haha, score!" I hear Harold cheer.

"I'm already out, dork!" I shout back, stomping my foot once

"It didn't know that. Gosh!"

 **Heather's POV**

Me and Noah speed walk side by side as we exit the forest.

"Back off already!" I exclaim.

"What does it matter?" Noah asks, raising an eyebrow. "The more of us stay outside the woods, the better chance we have of winning."

"Because, I'm not sharing whatever Chef has in the kitchen," I shoot back.

"Really? Is that what you're worried about?" Noah says, skidding to a halt. "I was just going to go back to the cabin and read."

"Oh," I say, also stopping. "Wait a minute, what am I doing?"

"Uh…I could give a hundred different answers," Noah responds.

"I don't need to get my own food. I'm already black-mailing people into doing my dirty work," I say with a sly grin.

"Oh no, I am not raiding the mess hall!" Noah snaps, holding up his palm.

"Come on, Noah. Because if you didn't, it would really 'suck."

"You have made that pun way too many times. It was never funny," Noah growls, gritting his teeth.

"You are adorable sometimes," I giggle. "Now come on. The food isn't going to steal itself."

Noah lets out a sigh, "Fine. But you have to keep watch."

I think about it for a second. It's not like I have anything to do while I wait for him. "Sure."

 **Ezekiel's POV –**

Geoff and I arrive at the bear cave. I stamp my foot once, and the bears peek out and immediately screech and flee as soon as they see me.

"Nice," Geoff comments as he settles on one of the rocks. "So…this is where you chilled when you were a beast?"

"Eh?" I respond. "Nah, I mostly lived in the mine. I got stuck in there for weeks after that psycho Chris sealed it off."

"Damn," Geoff says in response. "Oh yeah, and then you tried to kill him."

I grit my teeth at Geoff even bringing this up. I bring my feet over to the rock, squat until I'm face to face with him and hiss, "That guy…ruined…my life."

"Woah, I hear you!" Geoff exclaims, almost falling back. "But dude…it's all gone now. Wiped out of history."

"I know," I reply. "But it could happen all over again. What if I can't avoid it?"

"You will," Geoff assures me. "Just…I don't know, call it quits after the island."

"Maybe," I sigh. It was my plan to begin with. But I may never be able to stop. I was so determined to make it past the first episode the first time…I went as far as destroying my sanity.

I let out a snort.

"What?"

"Nothing," I say, shaking my head. "I just…I can't believe I'm saying all this to you."

"Hey, it's cool," Geoff shrugs. "I won't bite."

"Yeah, but you will yell at me and threaten me," I sigh.

"Say what?" Geoff responds, before putting a hand to his face. "Wait…so you really didn't vote for me?"

"No. I voted for Courtney," I nod.

Geoff shakes his head, "God, I'm such an idiot."

"You're not. Don't worry about it…"

"No, you don't get it!" It's Geoff's turn to rant. "I convinced Duncan that you would split the vote, but it didn't work and DJ got voted off. And Duncan got so angry that he yelled at me."

"Oh my…"

"It gets worse. Yesterday, he hit me with his oar, gave me a concussion and I almost drowned!"

"I thought that was an accident," I say.

"That's what he wants you to think…"

Geoff is interrupted when we are suddenly splattered by orange paint.

"Heh, heh, sorry to interrupt the tea party," Owen cackles as he poses with his gun.

We both shake our heads and walk out.

 **Lindsay's POV –**

"…needless to say, fermented vegetables and sticky rice cakes do not go well together," Kaitlyn says as we walk through the woods.

"Haha, North Korea sounds so interesting!" I explain.

"No, no, South Korea. North Korea is where…" Kaitlyn suddenly pauses.

"Where what?" I ask, looking around. I see a girl standing behind one of the trees. It's Kaitlyn's friend, but I can't remember her name. The names rhyme…oh, I know it.

"Oh, hi Satan," I greet as we walk past her. "Satan, it's Lindsay! You know me, right?"

Satan sighs and goes to hide behind some bushes.

"What's wrong? Is she shy?" I ask Caitlyn, who is laughing historically.

"Why are you laughing? Did you hear a funny joke?"

 **Noah's POV –**

I stand back and admire my handiwork. On Chef's kitchen table I've put together a crate with some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, three bags of potato chips, and a bag of some knock off brand of Hershey's Kisses.

If Heather could just give me her signal…

Just then, the door swings open. Crap.

Where to hide? Where to hide?

I creep around the counter, inspecting for any potential cupboards or cabinets. I open one of the lower ones, and a bunch of pots and pans come clattering out.

The kitchen door burst open and Chef stands at the frame, seething through his teeth.

"Hi…" I say awkwardly, standing at the other end of the room.

Next thing I know, I'm seeing stars.

 **Heather's POV –**

"Thanks a lot for that," Noah scowls at me as we sit on the porch of the Gopher cabin with our stash of food. The boy sports a shiner on his right eye.

"Whatever. We still got to eat, didn't we?" I say, rolling my eyes.

"So your plan this whole time was to grab the crate while Chef beat me to a pulp!?"

"No. I just didn't hear Chef go in. Probably wouldn't have noticed at all if I hadn't heard you scream."

I rest against the wall as I shove another handful of salt and vinegar chips in my mouth.

"That last bag is mine."

"Oh, is it?" Noah smirks, holding up the last bag, which is barbeque flavoured.

"I hate you so much," I growl, grabbing a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

"My thoughts on everyone," Noah sighs, putting his hands behind his head.

 **Duncan's POV –**

"There, that's the spot."

I'm in the middle of using a tree as an ass-scratching post when I notice Harold standing nearby, his jaw dropped open.

"Oh, it's you," I say, pulling my pants back up.

"I won't judge," Harold says. "I personally feel attracted to cartoon cats."

"Thanks. I definitely needed to know that," I reply, rolling my eyes.

"You should really find a hiding place. Such exposure makes you an unchallenging target for the opposing team," the nerd begins the lecture.

"Whatever. I was done here anyway," I shrug. "Any luck so far?"

"Yeah, I got Trent," Harold grins. "He...

He stops talking and lies down on the ground.

"What?" I ask, looking down at him.

"Don't…make…any…" he begins as I look ahead. A grizzly bear is in our path, gazing right at me.

"ARRRGGGHHH!" I scream, and I immediately run, the bear charging after me.

 **Harold's POV**

Shit, that bear stepped right on my nuggets.

I get to my feet, one hand clutching my gun, the other clutching my smarting kiwis.

Oh well, I will soldier on despite the excruciating pain that befalls me.

Poor Duncan. He thought running away was the correct choice, unaware that bears can run at speeds of up to 60 kilometres per hour.

As a former Canadian scout, I am aware that the best thing to do is stay quiet and still, so as not to provoke the wild animal.

I look down the path and sigh. I hope Duncan is alright. He may be a sadistic bully but he doesn't deserve to be mauled.

 **Cody's POV**

I sit in a tree and slowly rock back and forth. I can't take this.

If being blackmailed by Heather wasn't bad enough, now I'm once again at risk of being mauled by a bear.

That was the worst pain I've ever felt in my life. Sure, Sierra probably caused more damage in the long run, but at least it was in smaller doses.

"Cody?"

I turn around and see Sadie looking up at me, her gun in one hand while she uses the other as a makeshift visor.

"Ah!" I scream, covering my face with my arms. "Just shoot me! I don't care about this challenge!"

"The challenge is over. We're all heading back to camp," Sadie tells me.

"Oh…right," I say, and I slide down. "Uh…would you mind walking with me?"

"Why?"

"B-b-b…b-b-beh…" I stutter, only for her to nod and beckon me over.

 **Sadie's POV –**

Cody and I are the last to arrive, and…my God what has happened?

Duncan is wrapped in a body cast, Noah has a black eye, and Ezekiel and Geoff are splattered in orange paint.

"Tsk, tsk," Chris says, walking around. "Stealing from Chef, having picnics in the cabin, being mauled by bears. Do you know what I see here…"

Blah, blah, stuff we already heard the first time.

"…that was awesome! Wicked TV guys!"

"Well, since two members of the Bass are dripping in paint, as opposed to one of the Gophers…I think we have our winner!"

The Gophers immediately start to cheer.

"Gophers, you're off to a hunting camp shindig! Bass, I'll see you at the campfire ceremony…again."

Great, four losses in a row. Here's hoping I can dodge another bullet.

...

"There are only six marshmallows on this plate. When I call your name, come up and claim your marshmallow. The camper…"

Yadda, yadda, we've heard it all before.

"Eva."

…

"Courtney."

…

"Geoff."

…

"Sadie."

…

"Ezekiel."

…

The only two left are Duncan and Harold. Harold is holding onto his collar and looking a little tense, while Duncan sits bandaged in a wheelchair, rolling his eyes.

"Campers, this is the final marshmallow of tonight."

…

"…Harold."

"Yes," Harold says, as he catches the candy in his hand.

"Duncan, the dock of shame awaits bro. I guess we can help you get there."

I look around. Geoff frowns and folds his arms, while everyone else is staring off in different directions.

"I'll do it," Eva sighs, raising her hand.

 **Katie's POV**

The Gophers are having a party.

Well, there's a boombox, some bowls of candy, and one of those funfair games where you shoot the wooden ducks. I suppose it's a party

"Eeeeiiii," Lindsay squeals as she dances with me. "This party is so fetch."

"Yeah," I nod in agreement.

"Hey, you should ask Nolan to dance," Lindsay suggests, pointing ahead.

I turn around. Noah is sitting on a chair with an ice-pack to his eye.

"No, it'll be cool," Lindsay assures me, and she pushes me away and goes to dance with Owen.

Noah looks up as I stumble towards him.

"Uh…hi?" I greet him.

"What's up?"

"Do you…um…want to…"

"Kind of have my hands full right now," Noah says, tapping the ice-pack with his other hand.

"Yeah…right," I nod. I don't know what's wrong with me. I would have been fine if Lindsay hadn't shoved me over. "Well, we can just sit and talk then."

"Alright," Noah shrugs, and I drop into the chair beside him.

"We're doing so well right now," I squeal. "We've won three times in a row."

"Four," Noah corrects. "And Gwen got eliminated for one of them."

"Oh, I know. That was, like, such a bitchy move," I reply. "Why would Heather weaken the team like that?"

"Since when does she care?" Noah asks.

"Good point," I agree as I run my hand through my hair. "I think I'm starting to get through to Sadie."

"Really?" he smiles.

"Yes, I mean, for starters, my head isn't shaved," I giggle.

Noah laughs. He has this strange laugh. It sounds like he's in pain.

"It really touches me that she didn't decide to go through with it. Like she's starting to care again. I don't know if I'm reading it right."

"It sounds like it," Noah tells me. "She just needs time to re-think things. You'll be friends again in no time."

"You really think so? Oh, thanks, Noah, you always know what to say!" I sit on his lap and start leaning for a kiss when he yells, "Ouch!"

"Ooh, sorry! What did I do?" I ask as I get back to my chair.

"Chef didn't just punch me in the eye," Noah groans.

 **Leshawna's POV**

Trent and I compete against each other at the 'Shoot-a-duck', while Cody watches from the side. Trent is winning 12-2, but the score is the last thing on my mind right now.

"We need a plan," I say in a low tone.

"What?" Trent asks, glancing at me.

"We can't keep winning forever, and we know Heather is _itching_ to pick another one of us off."

"How do you know it will work next time?"

"She already got Beth out, didn't she? And with Gwen gone, that's another person who can't vote against her."

"Well, sure, but she only got my vote because she blackmailed me." Trent points out. "Fool me twice? I don't think so."

"You're only one person. Who knows which Gophers are under her thumb?" I ask. "I'm going to get to the bottom of this, or be eliminated trying. I was thinking…"

Cody starts coughing loudly, and I turn around.

"Hey, teamies," Heather greets, her hands on her hips.

"Oh…uh…hi, Heather," Trent says nervously.

"It's all yours," I shrug, tossing her my gun. "Come on, guys."

"Cody, play with me," Heather says sharply.

 **Cody's POV**

We're a minute in. I'm winning 3-2…and now it's a draw.

"What did they say?"

"Huh?" I respond. Heather shoots me a stern look.

"I know they were talking about me. What did they say?" she asks again.

"Oh…uh…Leshawna said she was going to vote you off next time."

"No duh. What else did she say?"

"Well, I think she was going to tell us her plan, but you came over before she could say it." I reply.

"Okay," Heather nods slowly. "I need you to spy on them."

"When?" I ask.

"Do it now. Just act like you're on their side…whatever you were doing a few minutes ago."

"Oh, you mean that. That's no problem," I shrug. My face lights up as I hit another duck. "Nice."

"I just said NOW!" Heather yells at me. I squeak and run off.

Wow, she actually trusts me to spy for her.

This could be my ticket out.

Do I really want to tempt fate?

I'm scared.

* * *

 **Votes -**

 **Duncan (6) - Courtney, Eva, Ezekiel, Geoff, Harold, Sadie**

 **Harold (1) - Duncan**

 **Eliminated: Justin, Tyler, Bridgette, Beth, DJ, Gwen, Izzy, Duncan**

 **Remaining Screaming Gophers: Cody, Heather, Katie, Leshawna, Lindsay, Noah, Owen, Trent**

 **Remaining Killer Bass: Courtney, Eva, Ezekiel, Geoff, Harold, Sadie**

 **And so ends the road for Duncan. I had thought about letting someone else get mauled by the bear, but I didn't want the 'curse' arc to drag on for too long, and Duncan probably would have been eliminated the episode after anyway.**

 **Review whatever your opinion, fav and follow if you haven't already, and hopefully another update will be very soon**


	10. Episode 10

**It's been another three months. Yeah, these days my inspiration for fanfiction seems to work in short bursts. But hey, it's better than nothing**

* * *

 **Ezekiel's POV**

I'm awake.

I sit up and rub my eyes. The sun is still rising.

It's been hard to get to sleep on time lately, what with all the Izzy nightmares, so it's a nice surprise when I actually wake up early.

I pull on my hat and some jeans, and grab my shoes. I'll put them on outside so I don't make too much noise.

I'm a bit behind on my hiking, but there's time to catch up.

I slowly open the door of the cabin, when I notice a figure sitting on the porch.

"Courtney?" I say in a low tone.

She looks at me and gasps, before taking a sigh of relief.

"It's just you," she says.

"Are you okay?" I ask her.

"Yes…I mean, I don't know," she groans.

"I'm going for a walk. Do you want to come too?"

"Alright," she shrugs, getting up.

 **Courtney's POV**

Zeke and I made our way across the campgrounds and now we're walking up the cliff. So far, it's been silent.

"It's Duncan," I sigh.

"Oh!" he exclaims, a little shocked that I actually said something.

"I'd been waiting all season for him to get eliminated, but now that it's happened…I feel like shit," I say.

Ezekiel gasps.

"What?" I ask, looking around.

"Nothing, I just didn't expect you to swear," he says sheepishly, scratching his neck.

"I mean sure, he's a pig, and he treated me bad, but getting sent away in a body cast…he didn't deserve that!" I exclaim. "I don't know if I'm making sense."

"I understand," Ezekiel nods. "Just because you-know-who ruined my life doesn't mean…wait, that's a bad example."

"I'm glad you beat me to it," I chuckle. "Seriously, what were you thinking?"

"I couldn't think at all," Zeke groans, clenching his eyes. "I just felt anger and…more anger."

"That reminds me of me," I sigh. "After…the kiss."

"What kiss?" Zeke asks.

"Oh right, you don't know!" I exclaim. "The episode after that 'Jack the Ripper' challenge, Gwen and Duncan made out in the bathroom, and then they became a couple. It completely broke me – I always tried to be a rational and logical person, but after that…I just threw it out the window."

"Gwen and Duncan were...I mean, I guess they had chemistry, but I always thought Duncan was crazy about you. Are they still together?"

"No. They broke up in season 5," I say.

"How many seasons were there?" Zeke asks.

"Six. Well, technically five, but season 5 was basically two mini-seasons. And there was also this spin-off where people competed in pairs…I'm not sure how to explain it."

"Will be. I suppose it's 'will be' now," Zeke says wisely.

"Yeah…" I nod slowly. "Do you think we're the only ones? You know…who've gone back…like, people who we don't even know."

Zeke shrugs, "I don't know what's going on, Courtney. All I know is that I'm okay."

"I suppose I'm okay too," I agree. "At the moment at least."

I start to pant, and Ezekiel looks at me in concern. "Do you want to go back, eh?"

"No," I say between deep breaths. "We've made it this far."

"Okay," Zeke nods. "Do you think the escalator is still there?"

"No. They took it down after day one."

"Huh. That was a strange addition."

 **Lindsay's POV**

The…

Hang on a second. I need to count how many people are left. One, two, three, four…

The thirteen of us stand on the beach while Clit announces the challenge,

"Today's challenge will test your minds…"

Uh-oh

"Your teamwork, and your skills in the kitchen."

Oh, I know about that stuff. I'm actually quite the whiz in the kitchen. I love Tyler but he can only do pasta dishes and I can only take so many of them.

"You'll be cooking a three course meal and serving it to me for tasting. The winners get a reward, the losers will send somebody home. Each team will appoint a head chef to create the theme of the meal and to oversee the cooking. To cook, you need ingredients. Every morning a truck brings us food. Today's task starts there."

A truck comes out of the water and…oh my God, that's so adorable! It's being driven by a seal! He even does a little salute. My heart is melting.

 **Katie's POV**

Since we won last time, we Gophers get first dibs in the truck.

"Oh my gosh, can I be head chef?" I ask. "I know all about Korean cuisine. I know tons of dishes off by heart."

"I don't see why not," Leshawna shrugs, and she turns to Heather. "Is that okay with her royal highness?"

"Whatever," Heather scoffs. "Of course you can, Katie."

"Yay!" I squeal. "So, I was thinking chicken wings for starter, noodles for main course, and pastry for dessert."

"Are noodles such a good idea? What if the Bass do spaghetti again?" Noah asks.

I giggle, "Haha, I wouldn't have thought about that. You're so smart. No noodles then, but that's okay because I have loads more ideas!"

I notice Noah playfully roll his eyes as he picks up a bag of flour.

 **Eva's POV**

"You know the drill," Courtney says as the Bass reach the truck. She then looks at me and Ezekiel, "Most of you anyway."

"I've seen the re-runs. Don't worry," I mutter, and Zeke nods in agreement.

"Great. So for the antipasto we'll need cheese, olives, parmaham, mushrooms, and some sort of dressing – preferably olive oil."

"You seem to know this better than me. Maybe you should be Head Chef," Geoff chuckles.

"Maybe I should," Courtney grins. "As for the spaghetti…"

 **Cody's POV**

We all arrive at the kitchen, at which point two of the dishes have been changed due to similarities with the Bass' dishes from last time.

"Chicken wings for starter, marinated beef and rice for main course and tea cookies for dessert," Katie announces. "Who wants to go with who?"

"Sorry whom," she adds a second later, grinning at Noah, who shoots a pretty convincing smile back.

"I know how to marinate beef!" Heather blurts out. "Noah and I could do that. And Leshawna should do the starter – she makes great fried chicken."

"Fuck you," Leshawna frowns, giving Heather the middle finger. "Just for that I'm doing dessert."

"Me too," Trent and I say at the same time.

"Good, we need a group of three anyway," Katie says. "That leaves Owen and Lindsay with the chicken."

"Oh God," Heather groans, a hand to her face.

The rest of us split into the three groups, and I notice Heather tilt her head at me. I nod slightly.

What do I do from here? This could be my chance to escape – but what are the consequences if I step out line?

"So…what other plans do you have?" I ask Leshawna casually as we grab some ingredients.

"Not around Heather," Leshawna hisses at me.

 **Sadie's POV**

"Partner up, everyone!" Courtney announces, clapping her hands. "Harold and Sadie?"

I look at Harold, and he says, "I better go alone. It would be unfair for another team member to be left without a partner."

Humble brag much?

"Nobody is working alone," Courtney says. "I will be doing the dessert."

"But you're the head chef," Geoff points out, scratching under his hat.

"I am aware that it's unorthodox, but we're short players at the moment, so desperate times call for desperate measures," Courtney adds.

"Very well. Sadie can join me," Harold shrugs.

"Does anyone else have a preference?" Courtney asks.

"I don't know the first thing about cooking," Zeke admits.

"I haven't cooked for myself in 5 years," Eva added.

"I guess I can do the spaghetti," Geoff shrugs.

"Very well, Zeke can go with me and Eva and Geoff can do the main."

Everyone goes to stand beside their partners and we get started.

"How did we divide this up again?" Harold asks me. "I know I did the cheese, pretty sure you did the olives…"

"Can you figure this out as you go? We don't have all day," Courtney interrupts irritably. She then glances at me, "I mean, um, take your time."

"How kind of you," I say sarcastically, rolling my eyes.

Courtney lets out a sigh and makes her way over to Zeke, who places some pastry on the counter.

 **Noah's POV –**

"So…" I say casually as I pour rice into a measuring cup. "Cody is working with your worst enemies…and you're okay with it?"

Heather looks up from cutting meat. "If it's any of your business, he's doing espionage for me."

"You really expect him to be honest?" I smirk. "You may be threatening him, but he's not loyal to you in any way."

She lets out a scoff, "I know Cody. He'll do anything to look like a man. My threat is making him do whatever I want."

"I mean, that's fair," I shrug. "All I've done is avoid Cody for the last decade. Anything so people forget."

"Ha, you do not know this show's fan base," Heather chuckles.

"Oh, I do. I've dated a fan more than once. Never have I had my face and hair caressed so many times."

Heather turns back to what she's doing, but I carry on.

"Let's say I'm right, and Cody does betray you. What's your big plan then?"

"Easy. I carry out my threat and wait until next season," Heather shrugs.

How did this girl make the final 3 twice?

 **Geoff's POV –**

Being the more experienced cook out of us, it's up to me to make the Bolognese, while Eva tries (key word tries) to boil the pasta. We're not quite Bridgette and DJ, I'll admit, but what could go wrong?

I glance at Eva as she turns on the kettle. God, that girl scares me.

She barely talks to anyone. She just spends all day doing weights in the forest, and we only see her at breakfast and dinner. And nobody dares to prod her because we know what she's capable of. Maybe Izzy talked to her a few times, but come on, she's Izzy.

"Why do you keep looking at me?" Eva asks, her piggy eyes locked with mine.

"Huh?" I say, trying to play dumb as possible.

"You've done it, like, four times in the last minute," she says irritably.

"Oh…uh…well…sorry," I say hesitantly.

I turn back to my mixing bowl, but the iron woman isn't done with me.

"So what is it? Is there something on my face?" Eva asks.

I don't dare look back.

She begins to laugh, "For such a social person, you're not good with words."

Her laughing calms me down a bit, but I still have no idea where this is going.

"I don't mean to be rude, but are you trying to make a point?" I ask with a raised eyebrow.

"No. You were just creeping me out a bit," she shrugs. She turns back to her work and says nothing more.

Okay, I can't end on that. She's right, I am a social person. I'm the resident party animal of the show. Who am I to be scared to talk to someone? Now that I'm getting along with Ezekiel, what do I have against her?

"I'm still bummed about Duncan," I sigh. "Sure, he was a bit of a jerk over the last few days, but getting mauled…that was too harsh."

"Duncan," she snorts. "That kid is all talk."

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"Can you not see it?" she asks. "He goes around acting like such a badass, but he's really soft and scrawny. That's why he only ever picked on people like Harold – the lowest of the low on the food chain."

"I never thought of it that way," I muse.

"It's obvious," she shrugs. "Even Cody kicked his ass. Well, punched him but you get the idea."

Not a bad start, Geoffster. Not a bad start at all.

 **Leshawna's POV**

We've set up a decent dessert system so far. Obviously none of us have ever made Korean cookies before, but Katie wrote down some simple instructions, and it looks like we're away.

Trent is pre-heating the oven, Cody is putting flour and sugar in a bowl, and I'm busy ripping open herbal tea-bags. Yeah, when Katie said 'tea cookies', she literally meant cookies with tea in them.

I look at Cody. He's looked up at Heather at least five times in the last minute.

I shake my head and sigh, "For the last time, Cody, she's too close. We'll talk about it later."

"Yeah, yeah," Cody adds. He is shaking so much that some of the flour doesn't make the bowl.

"Is everything okay?" I ask with a smirk.

"Yes, yeah, of course," he replies, not even looking up at me. "I'm just…you know…excited. I'm playing a part in taking down…you know who."

"Well, yes, I suppose you will," I agree. "But you've gotta be patient, can you promise me that?"

"Sure, yes, yeah," he replies.

"I'm going back to the van. Do we need anything else?" Trent asks us.

I look at Katie's instructions, "Honey and salt."

"Got it," Trent nods, and he walks off.

 **Owen's POV –**

I smile to myself as I lay the chicken wings down on a baking mat. They're all so cute and pink. Maybe I could nibble just a little bit off the tip…

"Owen, gross!" Lindsay exclaims from behind me, her hands on her hips. "They're still raw."

"What? I didn't eat them. Not me," I say hesitantly, putting my hands behind my back.

She moves on like nothing happened.

"Okay, let's get started!" she says brightly. "Pass the salt."

"Hold on, the recipe says…"

"Salt!" she interrupts. She's still smiling but you can tell she means business.

I chuckle as I hand her the salt.

"Pepper," she says next.

"Okay, but Lindsay…"

"Owen, we don't have all day. Just bear for me," she sighs.

"Haha, of course, pepper."

I look at Katie's instructions, which have slipped out of my hands, unused on the table.

Maybe Lindsay knows what she's doing?

 **Harold's POV**

"I just can't get this feeling out of my head," I say aloud as I finish putting cheese on the platter.

"I know," Sadie nods as she pits olives.

"Duncan's at the Playa in a body cast, and I'm still here. I'm a survivor of a bear attack."

"Yep," Sadie agrees, putting another stone on the counter.

"It could have been me, but my mad survival skills were on my side," I say. "I knew to lie on the ground while Duncan was a goner."

"Uh-huh."

"And not only that, but I claimed the last marshmallow. I broke through the bottom 2. Sure, Duncan was the only one who voted for me. And possibly Geoff. What was the story with their alliance anyway?"

"I dunno."

"I like my chances of merging. I may not be the most physically competent member of the team, but I have my own unique skills to add to the team. You must be worried though, you would have been voted off three episodes ago if Heather hadn't eliminated Gwen, and the last two eliminations were basically beyond our control."

"Mm-hmm..."

 **Trent's POV –**

"Come on, Trent!" "You can do it, Trent!"

Leshawna and Cody cheer me on as I slide an Oreo cookie from my forehead, down my cheek, and finally into my mouth.

"Woo! You did it!" Leshawna exclaims, right as the oven dings, telling us that our tea cookies are ready.

Cody puts on some oven mitts and takes them out, and we all have smiles on our faces as he puts them on the counter.

But our faces fall when we see the result. The cookies…while they're more or less the shape we wanted, they're a little burnt and crackly. But it was never something we'd made before so what's to be expected.

"Let me see," Katie says as she walks over and gives them a sniff. "Um…not bad?"

She goes to the centre of our work station and claps her hands. "Alright, we're ready to go. Trent, stay here and guard the food."

"Hey, that's my job!" Owen protests.

"Are you serious?" Leshawna snaps at him, her hands on her hips.

"Okay, forget I said that," Owen says sheepishly, putting his hands in his pockets.

As everyone else leaves the kitchen with the food, we hear Chris critique the Bass meals.

"Your anti-pasto passed the testo. Pass the pasta please."

After a couple of seconds of munching, he says, "On a scale of 1 to 10, 17! How will the Gophers respond?"

 **Heather's POV -**

"But he gave points for the two meals at once. Wouldn't it be on a scale of 1 to 20?" Noah asks from beside me.

"Shush, it's unprofessional for the chef to speak," I hiss at him.

"You totally pulled that out of your ass," Noah snorts.

I wince as Lindsay places a plate of chicken wings in front of him. They don't look too bad, but that can only tell you so much.

Chris takes a bite of one of the bones, and his face immediately lights up. "Sweet mama, these are some good wings. 10 points!"

"Yay!" Lindsay squeals as Owen picks her up and swings her around in the air.

"Time for course number two," Chris says, and Noah and I come over with the platter of beef and rice.

The host cuts off a slice of the meat and chews for a couple of seconds.

"Pretty good. 8," he says.

"Yeah! You did it!" Katie squeals as she runs up to Noah and gives him a tight hug.

I shoot Noah a smirk as he practically chokes to death under her grasp.

"It's time for dessert. Bass, you're up again!" Chris announces.

Courtney and Ezekiel pass Chris a plate of pastries. They look just like the ones she made last time – though the custard is a little more consistent.

After a taking a bite out of one of them, Chris shrugs, "7."

Courtney doesn't react at first, but Zeke gives her a nudge and she smiles back.

"In order to save themselves from elimination, the Gophers will need 7 points or more."

I look at Leshawna and Cody, who have troubled expressions.

"Come on, don't be shy," Katie smiles at them.

Leshawna sighs as she places the burnt biscuits on the table.

"Uh…what are these?" Chris asks in confusion.

"Korean…tea cookies?" Cody replies, trying to be upbeat but failing miserably.

"Okay," Chris nods slowly, and he picks one of them up and eats.

After a couple of seconds he clears his throat, "They're better than I expected."

The team's faces light up.

"…but that's not saying much. 4 points. The Bass win 24 to 22!"

The Bass all throw up their hands and cheer, while my team-mates groan. Whatever, I know I'm not leaving.

Okay, I don't. I hate to admit it, but Noah is right. Cody may be under my thumb, but Trent and Leshawna are his friends.

It's okay, Heather. Like you said, he'll never risk having his sausage slurped.

 **Cody's POV –**

Trent and I sit on our bunks in the boys' side of the Gophers' cabin, while Leshawna paces around in circles.

"Okay, it's pretty clear that Heather has hidden allies. The question is, who could they be?"

I look to Trent, who seems deep in thought, "Hmm…who has Heather allied with in the past?"

"Lindsay and Beth," I say.

"Well, Beth is already eliminated, and she tried eliminating Lindsay on day one, so they're out," Leshawna says, a hand to her chin. "There has to be at least five allies if she got rid of Beth."

"Four. She tricked me, remember?" Trent points out. "And Gwen said she voted for Beth too."

"Okay, so at least three," Leshawna corrects herself. "The other people on the team are Katie, Noah and Owen."

"She probably has Katie," Trent suggests. "She and Sadie had a fight or something. She must be really vulnerable."

"And we already know Owen takes bribes," Leshawna groans. "But what about Noah?"

"He's Owen's friend, and Katie's boyfriend," Trent says.

"True, true," Leshawna nods. "I mean, Noah's never been Mr Perfect, and he's also pretty lazy, so he'd do anything to cruise through the game."

"Uh-huh," Trent says thoughtfully. "So there's four on Heather's side, and four against. It will be a tie."

"I guess," Leshawna agrees. "But there's got to be a way to sway one of them."

"We could bribe Owen?" Trent suggests.

"Maybe," Leshawna nods. "What do you think, Cody?"

"Uh…um…I dunno," I shrug.

Leshawna raises her eyebrow, "You've wanted to talk about this all day, yet you've been really quiet."

Aw shit.

"Well…you see…how do I…"

Come on, Cody. You can tell them. But if you do, Heather will…no, I mustn't think about it.

"I wanted to hear your plans. That's why I was excited. Yeah," I finally blurt out.

"Okay…" Leshawna nods uncertainly. "You know what? I need to think about this. I'm going to the shower."

With that, she opens the door and leaves.

Trent yawns and flops down on his bunk. "I'm going to hang here for a while. What about you?"

"I-I don't know," I say hesitantly. "I'll be around, I guess?"

I speed walk to the door and also take my leave.

That did not go well. Not only did I not tell them the truth, but I also didn't blend in at all. Oh well.

 **Leshawna's POV –**

I was just about to tell them my plan. Really. But Cody was acting pretty suspicious when I confronted him. I just can't shake the feeling that he might in fact be one of the Heather's allies. It doesn't seem like him, I know, but I can't take chances.

I was half telling the truth about going to the shower. I figured it was where Heather would be at this time. Time to go undercover.

Heather finally leaves the bathroom after I wait for five minutes. Now comes the real challenge – staying hidden. Sure, there's trees all over camp for me to hide behind, but they aren't all enough to cover my luscious booty. Keeping quiet is another challenge. Any out of place cough or sneeze or loud footstep will give it all away.

She keeps walking. Away from the cabin. Past the mess hall and the elimination stumps and the boathouse. Now I'm following her into the forest. Where the heck is she going?

"Where have you been?" I hear a nasally male voice. Noah?

"Beauty takes time. Of course, you wouldn't know about that," Heather shoots back.

"Who's the one with a girlfriend again?"

"Please, Noah, Katie barely qualifies as a lap dog."

I try really hard not to gasp at that.

Noah clears his throat, "So, what's the plan, your highness?"

"I don't know. Who's easiest to get votes for?"

"Well Lindsay and Katie are sort of becoming friends, so not her," Noah says. "Trent is Katie's ex…I think, so he'd probably be the easiest."

"Great, another day with Leshawna on my tail," Heather groans.

"We can vote her off next time. It will be 5 against 2 so it doesn't matter if Katie votes with us or not," Noah shrugs.

"Trent it is," Heather sighs.

So it's five against three. Who are the other two?

"I've got this game in the bag," Heather says, slamming her fist into her palm.

"Provided your little 'espionage' doesn't go wrong," Noah points out.

"Oh please. Like I said before, Cody values his manhood above anything else."

Cody!?

"I guess I'll pass on the message," Noah shrugs

…

I follow Noah to the back of the mess hall, where he tells Cody tonight's plan.

I stand flat against the next wall as the exchange takes place.

"Okay, we're voting off Trent," Cody sighs. "Trent."

"Oh no you're not!" I shout, marching up to them. The two of them let out high pitched screams when they see me.

"Hello Leshawna!" Cody gasps. "We were just…"

"Zip it, Cody," I frown. "I cannot believe this! Going behind our backs to ally with Heather. I thought you were our friend."

"I am!" Cody protests. "You don't understand."

"What? What don't I understand?" I snap.

Cody doesn't say anything else. He just sighs and looks at Noah.

"Fine," Noah says, rolling his eyes. "We're being blackmailed."

"Excuse me?"

"Heather made us make out with each other in the sleeping challenge, and then she told us that if we didn't vote for her…"

He leans over to me and whispers in my ear.

"Oh my God, what?" I gasp, visibly disgusted. "Can she even do that?"

"The show gets away with killing interns on a regular basis. Who knows?" Noah responds.

"She won't," I assure them. "Not if she gets eliminated tonight."

"Leshawna…" Cody pleads in a whiny tone.

"She's right, Cody," Noah sighs. "We can't let Heather rule our lives. She can't do anything while she's off the island."

"But there's the Playa, and the special, and Action…so many opportunities," Cody squeaks.

"If she tries anything she'll have me to answer to," I assure him. "Trent too, and probably Gwen."

Cody takes a deep breath, "Okay, I'm in."

"I'll tell Owen and Katie about it," Noah says, and he walks off.

"Come here," I tell Cody, holding out my arms and giving him a hug. "Everything will be okay."

 **Noah's POV**

"What!?" Heather hisses at me when I tell her what just happened.

"Yep, Leshawna spied on us. She knows everything," I shrug.

"Oh fuck," Heather groans. "So...the result is a tie…"

"Haha, not so fast," I smirk. "I'll only vote with you…if you agree to some conditions."

"And what might they be?" she snarls at me.

"First, you call off 68 plus 1."

"Uh…like I said before, I can just carry out the threat and try again next time."

"You're really willing to take that risk?" I ask. "I don't believe you."

Heather puts on her best poker face.

"I mean, you're going to have to carry it out now," I point out. "Cody's already betrayed you, and I will as well if you don't do as I say."

Heather rolls her eyes, "Alright, fine, the deal's off."

"And the second condition, we vote off Cody tonight."

"Uh…why?"

"So you can't go back on your threat," I say.

Heather thinks about it.

"What choice do you have? If you lose me, you lose Katie and Owen."

"It's not like it matters," Heather points out. "It's four against four no matter what."

"I wouldn't be so sure," I say in a sly tone.

"What do you mean?"

"I…might just have a plan to get a fifth vote," I smirk.

 **Owen's POV**

Katie and I walk side by side, both clutching hand-written notes.

"He wanted to meet you too?" Katie asks me.

"Yeah," I nod. "I wonder what this is about."

We arrive at the Dock of Shame, where Noah is sitting on the edge, his head buried in his arms.

"Noah!" Katie cries as she rushes over. "Honey bun, what's the matter?"

"Oh, it's nothing," Noah says, looking up. "I'm fine."

"You don't look fine," I tell him.

"Noah, you told us to meet you here. What's going on?" Katie asks.

Noah lets out a deep sigh, "Heather's blackmailing me."

"What!?" Katie and I gasp in unison.

"Yeah, she says if I don't help her get Cody eliminated, she'll throw me to the sharks while I'm sleeping."

"No!" Katie cries, giving Noah a tight hug. "I won't let anyone hurt my Noah."

"Why don't you just vote Heather off?" I ask.

"Because," Noah sniffs. "There's sharks at the Playa, and she'll throw me to them instead. Please help me out."

"You can count on me," Katie assures him, hugging him tighter.

"I don't know…" I say hesitantly.

"Owen, you don't want Noah to get hurt," Katie pleads.

I take a deep breath, "Okay, buddy. I'll vote for Cody."

"Thanks. You have no idea how much I appreciate this," Noah smiles. He gets up from the dock. "I'll see you later."

 **Lindsay's POV**

"La-la-la. La-li-la. La-da-dee-da," I sing to myself as I leave the communion showers – one towel on my head, and another around my body.

Suddenly, a boy enters the bathroom.

"Hi, Lindsay," he greets.

"Hi…uh…um…Nigel is it?"

"Cody."

"Are you sure?"

"I think I know my own name," he chuckles.

I could have sworn Cody was someone else. Oh well, I'm not the best with names.

"What are you doing here? This is the girls' room," I say.

"No, it's the boys. You've made a mistake," he says.

"Maybe," I admit.

"But it's good that you're here. I've wanted some alone time with you," he says.

"Alone t…I'm sorry, there must be a mistake," I say scaredly. "See, I have a boyfriend. Tyler. He was on the other team but he got voted off."

"Nonsense. I'm the only man for you," Cody smirks, coming closer. "Let me get you started."

He reaches for my breast, but I scream and drop my towel, revealing my naked body.

I let out a scream, then I frown at him, "I don't like you. You're a creep!"

"What are you going to do. Vote me off?" he asks.

"I will!" I yell back at him.

Just then, we hear loud footsteps. He gasps and runs off.

I hear Trent's voice, "What's going on. I heard a scream and…oh my God!"

He opens the door, takes one look at my naked body, and rushes off.

I sit on the ground and start to cry.

 **Voting confessionals:**

 **Leshawna: Heather, your reign of terror ends here**

 **Owen: Sorry, Cody. I want my buddy to stay safe.**

 **Cody: I'm afraid of what will happen next but…maybe Leshawna's right. I vote for Heather**

 **Noah: [sighs] I really don't feel good about what I did. What's done is done?**

 **Trent's POV**

The eight of us sit on stumps before Chris. I'll admit that I am feeling nervous. Leshawna told me that Heather plans to vote me off, and even though the votes should be on our side, I can't help but worry that things will go wrong.

"I've got eight Gophers sitting in front of me tonight, but only seven fluffy bits of sweet safety in my hands, so good luck. When I call your name, come up and get your marshmallow."

…

"Leshawna."

…

"Owen."

…

"Noah."

…

"Katie."

…

"Lindsay."

The girl still looks on the verge of tears as she goes to pick up her marshmallow. Why did she scream earlier? Was it because she realised she was in the boys' room?

…

"Trent."

Phew, I'm safe. Hang on, there's still one marshmallow left. I look back. Cody and Heather are still seated. Why would she have voted for Cody? She thinks he voted with her. I have a bad feeling about this…

"Heather, Cody, down to you. Whoever doesn't get this last marshmallow must immediately walk the Dock of Shame and leave on the Boat of Losers forever!"

What is going on? This is fishy as hell…

"The final marshmallow goes to…"

I look to Leshawna, whose expression is getting more furious by the second.

I look at Katie and Owen, who look at each other uncertainly.

I look at Noah…where is Noah? He was there a second ago.

"Heather."

Cody hangs his head in shame.

"I…I don't get it," he mutters.

"Here's the deal, I'm staying, you're going. Bye-bye," Heather gloats, waving her hand.

"Bye, Cody," I say.

"See ya," Leshawna sighs.

 **Ezekiel's POV**

The six of us Bass sit at our table in the mess hall, each person feasting on a five star meal of their choice.

I'm tucking into a sausage and egg biscuit with carrots and potatoes, while Courtney is on my left having sushi, and Sadie on my right is eating lasagne.

On the other side of the table, Eva and Geoff are chatting to each other while the former has a steak and the latter has pizza. And Harold is at the end of the table with some strange looking beef stew.

"You enjoying the food?" Courtney asks me.

"Yeah, I love it. Really reminds me of home," I reply.

"What about you Sadie?" Courtney asks.

Sadie ignores her, and takes another forkful of her food.

I look at Courtney, who shrugs. "She's been like that for days. I don't know why," she whispers.

Well that's a shame. I hate to see my friends not getting along.

"Uh…Sadie?" I ask.

"Yes?" Sadie responds.

"Why are you ignoring Courtney?"

Sadie turns away from me. Courtney brings a hand to her face.

"Oh-oh, I'm sorry. Was I not meant to do that?" I say hesitantly.

"No, but…thanks for the thought," Courtney replies.

"Aw shoot," I groan, bringing my hat over my face.

* * *

 **Votes –**

 **Cody (5) – Heather, Katie, Lindsay, Noah, Owen**

 **Heather (3) – Cody, Leshawna, Trent**

 **Eliminated: Justin, Tyler, Bridgette, Beth, DJ, Gwen, Izzy, Duncan, Cody**

 **Remaining Screaming Gophers: Heather, Katie, Leshawna, Lindsay, Noah, Owen, Trent**

 **Remaining Killer Bass: Courtney, Eva, Ezekiel, Geoff, Harold, Sadie**

 **And next to leave is Cody. I think he had an interesting dynamic – having long moved on from his awkward phase, it was a struggle to have to go back to it. His main role in this story was as a pawn for Heather, but I think he played a part in shaking things up this episode.**

 **And Noah does something really shitty on his own accord, but it looks like he's starting to have regrets…**

 **Review whatever your opinion and don't forget to fav and follow if you haven't already.**


	11. Episode 11

**Woah, an update in under a month? Am I back in 2014?**

 **Well, no. The longest gap between updates that year was 3 weeks and this was still longer.**

* * *

 **Noah's POV**

I feel like shit.

No really. I feel so worthless that I may as well be flushed down a toilet and into a sewer.

I was excited. The second Leshawna stepped out from behind that wall, I was devising a plan.

I may not wear insecurity on my sleeve like Cody, but that threat did freak me out. Having another guy's wiener in my mouth…it feels so degrading.

I don't think that's homophobic. I'm totally fine with guys doing that if they want. They can make whole parades about it for all I care. I have gay friends. Okay, Owen's bi but close enough.

I guess it's more because it wouldn't have been a choice. I'd have been forced to do it by someone else. A sign of losing all control.

So when Leshawna found us out, I knew getting rid of Heather wasn't enough. I had to get rid of that deal once and for all.

But I got carried away. Getting Heather under my thumb gave me an adrenaline rush like nothing else. Though that's not saying much given my lazy nature.

I thought this was what I always wanted. Season after season of watching the big players manipulate and backstab one another. That was my plan going into this show. It's what I would fantasise about when I got eliminated from Island and World Tour. I had to take control of the vote.

Say, I've got it! I'll manipulate Lindsay into voting with us. Pretend that I'm someone else and grope her.

Lindsay's scream was what brought me back to reality. I just sexually harassed her. And for what?

Heather's threat is gone. And what do I have left? A fake girlfriend, some backstabbed team-mates and a tangled web of lies.

I was okay with lying to Katie when Heather was threatening me. But now I can leave at any time but I choose not to? Who's really the villain here?

How will Katie react when she finds out I was a fake? What will Owen think? Worst of all…what will Emma think?

I'm not who she fell for. She fell for a snarky, sarcastic know-it-all. Not a guy who assaults girls for monetary gain.

I had to get away. Hide deep in the forest until the next challenge. I couldn't face them. Leshawna and Trent already know I backstabbed them…I bet Katie and Owen know too. Did I ever imply that I was using Katie while I was talking to Heather? I can't remember. What's the difference? I'll either get fucked quickly or slowly.

 **Trent's POV**

I settle down on my bunk in the boys' side of the Gophers' cabin. Cody's gone and Noah hasn't been seen since the ceremony. My only company is Owen.

"So…that was a shocking elimination," I say casually.

"Uh…yeah, you can say that again," Owen chuckles nervously.

"So I take it you voted her off?" I ask.

"Who?" he asks. "Oh yeah, Heather. She was my vote. Definitely, man."

"Uh-huh," I nod. "So Noah gave you the message?"

"Noah?" he gasps. "What about Noah? What are you saying about Noah?"

"Okay," I take a deep breath. "I don't know how much you already know but…Leshawna caught Noah talking to Heather about voting for me, and then he told Cody about it. Leshawna confronted them, and Noah admitted they were being blackmailed…"

"Alright, I know!" Owen cries, putting his hands to his face. "I know about the blackmail. I lied to you. Please don't get mad."

"It's okay. I'm not mad," I chuckle. "So…Noah said he would tell you and Katie to vote for Heather, but he couldn't go through with it."

"Yes, yes, I voted for Cody. I'm sorry," Owen groans. "I just didn't want Noah to get thrown to the sharks."

Thrown to the sharks? That's one way of putting it.

"So…you, Heather, Katie and Noah all voted for Cody, right?"

"Right."

"But why did Heather get Cody eliminated? He was being blackmailed too," I say, scratching my head.

"He was?" Owen gasps. "I didn't know that, I swear!"

"And who was the fifth vote?" I ask. "I didn't vote for her, and I'm pretty sure Leshawna didn't. That leaves…"

 **Leshawna's POV**

We four Gopher girls lie on our bunks. I didn't feel like locking Heather out of the cabin again. I've too much on my mind for that.

I'm trying really hard to piece together what the heck happened tonight.

So obviously Noah lied. Smug little fool just couldn't risk a little trumpet playing. I guess he squealed to Heather and she decided to give Cody the boot, and he roped in Katie and Owen too.

But who was vote number five? I definitely voted for Cody, and I'd like to think Trent wouldn't fall for Heather's blackmail again…

My thoughts are interrupted when I hear crying.

"Lindsay? Lindsay, are you alright?" Katie asks, getting down from her bunk.

Lindsay lies face-first on her bunk, sobbing and snivelling endlessly.

"What's up, girl?" I ask, kneeling beside her.

She looks up at me. "N-n-nothing!" she continues to cry.

"Oh, honey," I sigh, rubbing her back. "You'll feel a lot better if you talk about it."

She doesn't reply. She just continues to cry.

"Okay, I'm here if you need me," I assure her, and go back to my bunk.

 **Ezekiel's POV**

The three remaining Bass boys retire for the night.

Even though it's late, I'm still determined to catch up on some schoolwork.

"Hey guys, do you know who got eliminated tonight?" Harold asks us.

"Nope," Geoff says in disinterest.

"Noah wasn't at dinner, so I guess he's gone," I shrug.

"But Cody wasn't there either. It was one or the other," Harold adds. "Unless they both left, but where could that twist have come from?"

"I don't get how Heather keeps getting through," I state.

"Ezekiel, you're so naïve," Harold says in a tone that I hope wasn't intentionally smug. "Heather's a master at this game. I just know she has a top notch strategy going on right now."

"If you say so," I shrug. Now to get back to my book. Enzymes. Amylase breaks carbohydates into…

"I mean, she's shown time and time again that there are so many possibilities when you have no moral compass. It's something one enjoys to despise. That may sound like a paradox, but it can be a healthy state of mind in certain circumstances."

"You're so smart. You must have a PhD," I remark.

Harold's mouth drops open, "I was just saying. Gosh."

That might have a been little cruel. I know all about Harold's failures in third level education. But that's what you get for constantly telling me sob stories while having no consideration for what I've been through.

 **Katie's POV**

Me and Owen walk through the forest. Noah never came back last night, and we've spent all morning looking for him.

"Oh, Owen, I hope he's alright," I say worriedly.

"Me too, Katie," Owen agrees. "Aw, the last elimination really took a toll on the poor guy."

"Oh I know. Heather is, like, totally the worst," I say. "It's not his fault she blackmailed him."

"Yeah," Owen nods. "I just remembered. Trent brought up a good point yesterday. Heather needed five votes to get Cody out – so who was the fifth?"

"Hmm," I think about it for a few seconds. "I think it was Lindsay."

"Really?"

"Yeah. She was crying in the cabin last night. She looked…wait, does Trent know?" I ask him.

"He knows about the blackmail. Leshawna spied on Heather or something," Owen replies.

"Huh," I shrug.

"And he also said something about Linsday…oh yeah, he heard her scream, and she was in the boys' bathroom, naked and crying."

"Oh my gosh. What did Heather do to her?" I gasp. "Me and Leshawna tried asking but she wouldn't say."

"Hm," Owen muses.

Just then, Noah walks past us. My mouth drops open.

"Hey," he says.

"Hey Noah," Owen replies casually.

"Owen!" I scream, elbowing him. I run up to my boyfriend and give him the tightest hug I can muster.

"Noah, where have you been?" I cry. "We've been worried sick!"

"I've just…I had a lot on my mind," Noah says.

"Noah, I know what this is all about," I assured him, rubbing his back.

"You do?" he asks.

"Yes. You couldn't bear to see Heather survive another day," I say. "I know this blackmail is, like, so hard for you, but you'll get through it. The fact that you told us is step one."

 **Courtney's POV**

The 13 remaining players stand on the dock.

"So, last week's challenge exposed a few Gopher issues." I notice Leshawna glare at Heather, while Noah looks away sheepishly.

"And I'm sensing a little something funky floating in the Bass pond too." Sadie shoots me an angry glare. Ezekiel, who is standing between us, lets out a loud sigh.

"So this week's challenge is going to be centred around building trust, because all good things begin with a little trust. There will be three major challenges that will have to be completed by two or more members of your team. Normally we like to have the campers choose their partners, but not this time. More fun for me."

 **Sadie's POV**

We're lead to the first challenge. I know Courtney and I are going to be put together for something. Hopefully it's the William Tell challenge. I'll take great pleasure in pelting that fake with crab-apples.

"So for the first challenge, you'll be doing an extreme free-hand rock climbing adventure. Trent and Owen will play for the Bass, and Courtney and Sadie for the Bass."

Oh great.

"Here's your belay and harness," Chris says, tossing them Courtney's way.

"I'll climb!" Courtney says quickly.

"Show off," I mutter.

"I'm sorry, do you want to climb? I'm fine with either," she tells me.

"Nah," I sigh.

 **Owen's POV**

So Trent is climbing and I'm holding him up. 'Cus we'd seriously be slowed down if it was the other way around, know what I'm saying?

"You're all secure," I say, giving Trent the thumbs up.

Trent looks back at the harness uncertainly, then he says, "Alright, I'm ready."

He positions himself to climb as Chris says, "On your marks, get set, GO!"

Both Trent and Courtney get off to a flying start, but Trent has more muscle so he's just about leading.

"Wo-hoo! Go Trent!" I cheer, holding my fist in the air.

"Focus Owen!" Heather snaps at me.

"What?" I say, when suddenly I hear an explosion. Before I know it, Trent is tumbling from the rocks.

"Arrrrghh! Pull the…" he shouts, and he's about to hit the ground when he tug hard on the rope.

He lets out a sigh of relief. "It's okay, buddy. I got you."

He looks down and sees how close he was to the ground.

"Don't worry about it. You survived falling from a plane," I remind him.

His eyes go wide and he nods at this, before starting to climb again.

"Phew," I sigh, when Chris suddenly squirts hot sauce at me. I manage to keep hold of the rope, and some of it even lands in my mouth.

"Mmm, spicy," I say.

I hear a scream as Chris squirts more hot sauce.

"Ah, my clothes!" Sadie screams.

 **Sadie's POV**

"Sadie, the rope!" Harold cries.

"Oh crap!" I exclaim. "Courtney!"

I grab the rope again, but when I look up, Courtney is still climbing as if nothing happened.

"It's okay, Sadie, I didn't fall!" Courtney announces. "I'm okay."

"Ugh, I'm Courtney, I'm so perfect," I mutter to myself.

"Come on, Trent! You can do it, Trent!" I hear Owen cheer from beside me. But it's pointless – Trent is only halfway while Courtney is almost at the top. Scratch that…

"Looks like the Bass have won the first challenge!" Chris announces.

"Yay, we did it! We won!" I hear her cheer from the top. "We did it! We won! We did it! We…ah!"

I let go of the rope for a few seconds and she loses her balance and is swung upside down.

She looks pretty annoyed but she tries to laugh it off, "Haha, good one."

 **Eva's POV**

So for challenge number two, it's me and Zeke up against Leshawna and Lindsay.

The four of us watch as an intern somersaults over to a podium, and then Chris stands up at the podium while the intern crawls away.

"And now round 2! The extreme…cooking…challenge!"

"Each team must choose who cooks and who eats."

"I'll cook," Zeke offers. He then leans closer and whipsers, "I know animal biology like the back of my hand."

"You better," I snarl.

We look over at Lindsay and Leshawna, who seem to be bickering.

I can only pick up parts of it, "I will…you don't…remember when…but I…"

"Come on, girls, we don't have all day," Chris sighs, putting a hand to his face.

"I'm cooking!" Leshawna announces.

"Hey, I didn't…" Lindsay protests, but Leshawna shushes her.

 **Lindsay's POV**

That so wasn't fair. I know I screwed up the challenge last time, but I've become a much better cook since then. I got a 10 out of 10 in the last challenge.

Chris has explained how to cook the fushigi ball, and it looks like Lafonda is almost finished.

"Done!" Smeagol annunciates. I would not like to be Ava right now. Smeagol's plate is broken up pieces of fish – it doesn't look very advertising.

"Bass, you're up first!" Piss says.

Ava takes one look at Smeagol's meal.

"Are you sure you did it right?" she asks him.

"I know it's not thebbest presentation, but I got past all the organs. Cross my heart," Smeagol tells her.

"I still don't know..." Ava sighs.

"I'll prove to you!" Smee explains, and puts one of the bits of fish in his mouth and chews. We all look to him in silence, and nothing happens. "Mmm, good."

"Alright fine," Ava says, and she's about to reach for one when Kurt says, "Yeah, trying the dish yourself kind of defeats the whole 'trust' aspect of the challenge. The Bass are disqualified."

"What!?" Ava yelps. "You idiot!"

She picks up Smeagol and throws him into the wall. Her throw is so strong that Smee breaks through the wall and lands flat on the ground outside.

"Oh Christ," he groans.

"All Lindsay needs to do is try Leshawna's dish and the Gophers win this part of the challenge."

I look to Lequisha, who smiles as she slides a plate of sushi to me.

"Ooh, this looks yummy!" I squeal, and I pick one up and pop it in my mouth. Hmm…this tastes a little weird. I…

I suddenly clasp to the ground.

"Oh no!" Lafonda cries as I start throwing up. "Girl, I tried my best. Really!"

"Well, that was an unexpected turn of events," Kurt laughs. "But she tried it, so the Gophers win this round."

"What's so fuddy? I dying!" I moan.

"You'll be fine," he says. "Give it 24 hours and she'll be up walking and breathing good as new."

"Good luck, Linds," Leshawna sighs as she walks off. Two interns come over and put me on something. Ugh, what do you call that thing in an ambulance? Where they pick up a dying person and carry them away? Ugh, I can't remember…

 **Geoff's POV**

"Good news!" Chris announces as everyone except Lindsay and Zeke stand in the forest. "The third round involves three more challenges. It's the three blind challenges. It begins with the blind William tell…"

"What happened to Zeke?" I whisper to Eva.

"He's fine," she hisses back, only for her eyes to go wide as Chris places an arrow on her head and orange shades on her eyes.

"What's this all about?" she growls, folding her arms.

"Like legendary marksman William Tell, you'll be knocking arrows off your partner's head, with crabapples."

Nobody bothers to correct Chris' mistake. He's pretty surprised by this, but carries on anyway.

"Also, the shooter will be blindfolded. The person who knocks off the arrow while causing the least amount of facial damage wins."

He demonstrates by shooting an apple at Eva's face, but she catches it and crushes it with her bare hands.

Chris takes off his blindfold, "Catching the apple does nothing, but okay."

"The game hadn't started yet," Eva snaps.

"Fair, fair," Chris shrugs. "Noah and Katie, you'll be one team. Geoff and Harold, you'll be the other."

"I'm violently allergic to apples," Harold protests, raising his hand.

"That's a shame," Chris remarks. "Okay, let's rock and roll!"

"You better shoot," Harold says as he walks up next to me. "Neither position is ideal but I'll have significantly less exposure."

"Whatever," I say, rolling my eyes.

 **Katie's POV**

"Eeeeiiii, this is so exciting!" I squeal, giving Noah a hug. "The ultimate test of trust."

"Yeah," Noah sighs.

"Hey, there's nothing to be afraid of," I say as I stroke his hair. "Whatever happens, we're still Notie."

"Notie?" he repeats.

"Notie. Noah and Katie. It's our ship name," I giggle.

"I know what it is, I've spent…way too much time browsing fansites," Noah sighs. "So…who's going to shoot?"

I think about it for a second, "You decide, hon."

Noah nods at this. "You do it. You were great at the dodgeball challenge."

I give him a light punch, "What about you? With your 'studying angles' and stuff?"

"It worked once," he says dryly, before slowly pulling himself out of my grasp. "I better get suited up."

 **Harold's POV**

I shake relentlessly as I await my inevitable reactions.

Geoff and Katie have begun shooting apples, and Noah and I begin to shout as we're pelted with the fruit.

"Ouch!" "Arrrgh!" "Hey!" "Oof!"

The apples hit our face and chest, and since neither of us are Mr Muscle, the impact is hard.

But my screams aren't alone for long.

"A-a-achoo!" I can feel blotches forming on my face.

"Buddy? I can stop if you want," Geoff offers.

"No. We need this point. I'll be f-f-fine," I gasp.

"Okay," the party boy shrugs, and he continues to shoot.

The apples are bruised as they hit me. But they leave bruises behind. Bruises that turn red and expand. My nasal cavities get less and less air, I'm…

…

I groan as I open my eyes. I'm in the medical tent. On the left I see Lindsay and Ezekiel. Lindsay is blue in the face and her limbs are out of place, while Zeke has some bandages on his head and left leg.

I turn to the right and see…

"Hold still, son. You'll be out of here in no time!" Chef grins at me, then he jabs an epinephrine injection into my arm.

 **Ezekiel's POV**

I sit up and wince as Harold screams his head off. Lindsay didn't scream nearly as much, and I can imagine her condition was a lot more severe.

"Ugh," I hear a familiar groan. Courtney comes trudging into the infirmary with a jellyfish on her head.

"Oh no. What happened to you?" I gasp.

"I was- **ow** -in the blind trapeze with Eva," Courtney groans as she lays down on the bed beside me. "She said jump but- **ow** -she was wrong."

"Oh. Oh man," I say. "Wait, does that mean we lost the challenge? Since Harold lost the William Tell…"

"No," Courtney tells me. "Heather and Owen- **ow** -were playing for the Gophers, and she refused to jump, so we won by default- **ow**."

"Huh, that's exactly what happened with Lindsay in the cooking challenge," I chuckle. "I got us disqualified by eating the fish, and Eva got so mad that she threw me through the wall."

"Oh my God!" Courtney exclaims. "She hasn't- **ow** -changed at all."

"No," I mutter, shaking my head.

We lay in silence for a few seconds, then she says, "It's good that we can talk now. Like, in case of an elimination."

"Yeah sure," I nod. "Do you have someone in mind?"

"No," she sighs. "That's the problem. I can see things going wrong no matter who we eliminate. Harold is an easy vote, but he's gonna be useless at the next couple of challenges. Eva's pretty anti-social, but she's great at challenges. And Geoff…he's improved since the start, but can we really depend on him?"

I shrug my shoulders, then flop back down on my bed.

 **Eva's POV –**

The three remaining Bass stand with the six remaining Gophers. You know you're doing great when half of your team is in the infirmary.

"And now, the final leg. The blind toboggan race," Chris announces. "Each team will have a driver and a navigator. The driver steers while the navigator shouts directions. Oh yeah, and the driver will be blindfolded. Not many of you left, huh? Keep losing you guys."

Nobody reacts to this. Usually Lindsay is there to gasp at everything he says.

"Trent and Leshawna, Geoff and Sadie."

 **Trent's POV –**

Oh my God, this hill is steep. I never noticed the first time. Just metres upon metres of brown, grassy gradient. I anxiously grab Leshawna's shoulders as she looks set.

"Uh…Trent? Do you mind grabbing onto the sled instead? It will be easier to…AHHH!"

Leshawna's request is interrupted when Chef kicks our sled and sends us tumbling.

"Left!" I shout, and Leshawna successfully dodges a tree.

"Right!" Leshawna goes around a large rock.

"Left!" I shout again. "Lean forward a bit, the Bass have gone past us!"

Leshawna laughs as she does so, "I could break the sound barrier if I wanted."

 **Sadie's POV**

I am literally screaming my head off as I cling onto Geoff's abdomen. He is rock solid by the way. I could use a guy as yummy as him.

I thankfully snap back to reality just in time to scream "RIGHT!" and signal Geoff to dodge a boulder.

I take a sigh of relief, only to scream even more as we barely dodge some explosives.

"Huh? Did we hit something?" Geoff asks, turning his head.

"No. We're almost at the finish," I assure him. "The Bass are still behind, but they're catching up."

"We're the Bass," Geoff points out.

"You know what I mean," I say, rolling my eyes.

"Left!" I hear Trent shout from next to us. Suddenly, there's another bang, and he and Leshawna are sent up into the air by an explosive.

"Oh darn," I groan.

"What's wrong now?" Geoff asks.

"Uh…nothing. We can still win," I say hesitantly.

I don't believe it's possible. We're almost at the finish and there's no sign of them. They must have flown a long way.

I jump as I hear a thud behind us. Trent and Leshawna have landed back on the slope, covered in soot, and more or less in the same position they took off from.

"God damn it!" I hear Trent curse.

We cut through the ribbon. Eva claps with her usual emotionless expression.

"Did we win?" Geoff asks, looking up.

"Of course, silly. We did it! We did it!" I squeal, giving him a tight hug.

 **Heather's POV**

I scoff to myself as I stomp through the forest.

We lost the challenge again. That dumbass Trent tried to launch into the air with an explosive, and failed miserably.

I do not feel safe. In theory I should be. I have three allies on this team, meaning control of four votes out of seven.

But I know things aren't that simple. Noah ran away last night. He actually felt bad about what he did. That's called remorse or something. Such a strange emotion, I'm glad I never have it.

He's got to be around here somewhere. He once again disappeared after the challenge. When Chris announced the final results of the challenge, he whispered something to Katie and then walked off. He really values his precious 'alone time'. What a weirdo.

I stop for a moment. I hear a sigh.

"Found you," I grin as I peer behind a tree. "For a bookworm, you're not really the silent type."

Noah glares at me and rolls his eyes. "What do you want?"

"I just wanted to see if you're okay," I answer, trying to sound genuinely concerned.

"Okay with being your ally and lying to my friends?" he frowns. "Well, to be honest, the jury's out on that one."

He shakes his head, "I always wanted to be a master strategist. Have everyone in the game under my thumb. Now that I have it…it feels like garbage."

This is pathetic. But I have to be careful. As much as I hate to admit it, I need him more than he needs me. What weak spots does he have?

"I think you're giving up too easily," I tell him. "You're right. You could be an amazing strategist. And in this life, you can't look back for anyone."

"I know but…is it worth it in the end?" Noah sighs, stroking the back of his head. "What good is being on top when everyone hates you?"

"Who cares? You're on top!" I exclaim, throwing my hands in the air. "It doesn't matter what they think. They'll bend to your will anyway."

"That…I'll admit that's intriguing," he smirks. "But…I'll have to think about it."

I put a hand on his shoulder, "It's always hard the first time. I felt the same way when I stole that MP3 player. Once you get used to it, it satisfies you like nothing else."

He looks deeply in thought when I've finished speaking. Looking at the stars, head resting on elbow. I may have just cracked him.

"I'll give you some time to think," I say, then I bend over and kiss him on the cheek, which makes him flinch.

"Wuh-huh?" he squawks.

I don't reply. I've already walked off.

 **Leshawna's POV**

I take a deep breath as Trent and I approach Owen and Katie, who are paddling their feet at the Dock of Shame.

"…and then Izzy said 'Hasta la Vista', and I…"

"Hey guys," I interrupt.

"Oh, my heart!" Owen gasps, clutching his chest.

"Hi Leshawna. What's up?" Katie greets with a smile.

"We need to talk," I say.

"About what?" Katie asks.

"Okay…" I take a moment to collect my thoughts. "So just to be clear, we all know about the blackmail."

"Yes," Owen and Katie agree.

"Alright," I nod. "Look, I know you care a lot about Noah, but there's nothing to be gained from doing what Heather wants."

"But…" Katie protests.

"If Heather tries anything, we'll be there to put a stop to it. He'll be okay," I assure them. "Besides, Cody's gone. There's nothing she can do for now."

"Cody?" Katie repeats with a raised eyebrow. "What does Cody have to do with this?"

"The blackmail?" I remind her. I raise my eyebrows, "You do know what the blackmail is,"

"Owen told me Noah would get thrown to the sharks, but I thought that was a euphemism," Trent states.

"What's going on here?" Katie asks in concern.

"Noah told me that if he and Cody didn't vote with them, she'd make them…uh…suck in their sleep," I say

Owen and Katie's mouths drop open.

"Noah's told us different stories," I point out. "Which means he's lying to some of us. Or all of us."

Owen gasps at this, but Katie frowns and folds her arms, "How do we know you're not lying?"

"Say what?"

"You could be making all this up. Just to make Noah look bad," Katie points a finger at me.

"What…why would I do that? I'm targeting Heather, not Noah," I say, putting my hands on my hips. "Look, it's not relevant what the blackmail is, because we'll still protect him."

"Why should we trust anything you say!?" Katie snaps. She flicks her pigtails and begins to walk off, "Come on, Owen."

Owen hesitates for a second then he says sheepishly, "You don't exactly have a clean record, Leshawna."

I grit my teeth as they walk off.

"They are unbelievable," I growl.

"Noah's got them under his thumb," Trent agrees. "What now?"

 **Voting confessionals**

 **Heather: I know things could go wrong, but I think I've got it sorted. I vote Leshawna**

 **Owen: [sighs] I don't know what to believe anymore, but Noah's safety is more important. Sorry Leshawna.**

 **Leshawna: I tried talking to Noah to try and change his mind, but he didn't sound too convinced. Heather, I don't know how you're controlling everyone, but I don't like it.**

 **Lindsay: [she scrawls onto a sheet of paper] HEH...BUR!**

 **Noah: Okay, I've made up my mind. Fate, don't fail me now!**

 **Owen's POV**

The seven Gophers sit before Chris awaiting the result. I can already tell you, this elimination won't be fun no matter what happens.

"Who wants a treat? A tasty goodie that represents exemption, security, peace of mind, another step closer to victory. If you don't get a marshmallow you have to walk the Dock of Shame and you can never come back…ever!"

Chris holds up the marshmallows and starts pointing to people and calling out names.

"Let's see – one for Katie, one for Trent, one for Owen!"

Phew, I'm safe. But he hasn't thrown any of the candies.

"Can I have my marshmallow, please?" I ask politely, raising my hand.

"Don't interrupt," Chris says sternly. "Trent and Noah, well done to you too."

Just Heather and Leshawna left. I feel sick in my stomach. Though that might be because of the three helpings of sloppy joes I had at dinner.

"Looks like we only have one left. Heather and Leshawna, the final marshmallow…goes to…"

I close my eyes. I want to block my ears too. This is how Noah must have felt last time.

"…it's a tie."

What?

"That's right. Leshawna and Heather received the same number of votes. You know what that means…it's time for a recount. You all remember what to do from last time…well, I hope so anyway. Otherwise, you're screwed."

But who changed their vote? It must have been Katie. But who did she vote for instead? Wouldn't it have been easier to just switch to Heather?

Maybe I should change my vote. I should join her if this is what she wants.

…

The revote is over. I couldn't do it. I can't be responsible for Noah getting hurt. That just wouldn't be right.

"The votes have been cast again," Chris tells us. "And…it's still a tie."

I look to the others. They all seem as confused as me.

"Which means…Heather and Leshawna are safe, and everyone else is on the chopping block."

Uh-oh. I don't like the sound of that.

He tosses Heather and Leshawna their marshmallows, then he takes the rest of the treats and puts them in a brown sack.

"In this bag there are five marshmallows. Four are the tasty white treats you just saw, while one is black and burnt to the centre. One by one, I will call your names and you will come up and take a marshmallow. Whoever gets the odd mallow out will be sent home. Owen, you're up first!"

I can feel beads of sweat drip from my forehead as I get up from my stump and reach into the bag. Let's get this over with.

"Owen is safe!" Chris announces. I let out a sigh of relief as I gaze at the marshmallow in my hand. But it doesn't stay there for long. Yum!

"Next up is Lindsay."

A still sickly looking Lindsay comes up to Chris, one hand on her stomach.

"Blub Glub Bloob Glah?" Lindsay asks in confusion.

"Your hand. Put it in the bag," Chris sighs.

Lindsay nods, and she reaches into the sack…

…and also pulls out a white marshmallow.

"Lindsay, you're still in the game!" Chris announces. "Up next…Trent."

Trent is shaking a little as he gets up. He puts his hand in the sack.

He seems to taking his time. Moving his hand about…

"Just take one!" Chris shouts at him.

Trent quickly grabs one in panic…

…

"Trent gets a white marshmallow. He is safe. All that leaves is Katie and Noah."

Katie gasps as she grabs Noah's hand and squeezes it tight.

I look over at Heather, who is keeping a straight face. I can't imagine she's very happy on the inside. Either way, she loses a vote.

"Katie, you're next. If you pick the right marshmallow, you're safe, and Noah goes home."

"This is a lose-lose situation," Katie gripes as she gets up and slowly makes her way over.

She reaches in her hand…

…

…and pulls out a burnt marshmallow.

"Katie, you have picked the black marshmallow. The Dock of Shame awaits."

She doesn't even look that sad. Just a little disappointed.

"Well, it's been fun, but it looks like it's my time," she shrugs. She comes over to me and gives me a hug, "Big O! I've loved talking to you. I hope we stay friends for a long time."

"Haha, same," I chuckle, hugging her back.

 **Noah's POV**

Yeah, I'm the one who messed up the votes. I had no idea what I wanted so I just voted for myself and let fate decide.

And I told myself that if one of my allies got eliminated, I would tell everyone the truth.

I'm going to have to tell everyone the truth. Totally destroy my game.

Katie is approaching me. My heart is beating like a mouse's.

"I need to tell you something," she whispers as she grabs with my hands. "I picked the wrong marshmallow on purpose."

Oh God, of all the things she could have said.

"You did? How?" I ask.

"I could tell the difference. The good one felt soft while the burnt one felt all rough," she giggles. "It came down to you and me and…I think you have a much better chance of winning."

No. No. Why is she saying this? This is totally throwing me off guard.

"Thanks," I say blankly, before shaking my head, "Uh, Katie, I need to tell you something too."

"Oh, what?" she giggles, flashing a sly grin.

Okay, Noah, as promised. Tell the truth.

But it's suicide for my game.

Your game's already dead. You lost an ally.

No, it's still 3 against 3…

Fate decided that this isn't worth it! Tell her the truth!

She's still looking at me with a cheeky smirk.

I can't do this. I'm sorry…

I grab her and kiss her full on the lips. She squeezes me back even tighter…

"Katie, Dock of Shame!" Chris frowns as Chef grabs her and hauls her away.

"Win this for both of us!" she squeals as she lands on the boat.

She sails away.

She's gone.

I'm so pathetic.

* * *

 **Votes –**

 **Heather (3) – Leshawna, Lindsay, Trent**

 **Leshawna (3) – Heather, Katie, Owen**

 **Noah (1) – Noah**

 **Re-vote –**

 **Heather (2) – Lindsay, Trent**

 **Leshawna (2) – Katie, Owen**

 **Noah does not vote**

 **Katie draws the burnt marshmallow and is eliminated**

 **Eliminated: Justin, Tyler, Bridgette, Beth, DJ, Gwen, Izzy, Duncan, Cody**

 **Remaining Screaming Gophers: Heather, Leshawna, Lindsay, Noah, Owen, Trent**

 **Remaining Killer Bass: Courtney, Eva, Ezekiel, Geoff, Harold, Sadie**

* * *

 **Just as a disclaimer…**

 **Disclaimer: Yay, I'm back! The running order for the tiebreaker was decided as random, as were the fates of Owen, Lindsay and Trent.**

 **So, Katie is gone. I'll admit, it has been interesting writing two separate arcs for Katie and Sadie. While Sadie aimed to stand alone and play her own game, Katie was left sad and vulnerable, which made her easy bait for Heather.**

 **Katie and Noah's hookup was a parody of the common Notie ship in many other fics. While I think it can be well written, it obviously wouldn't work after all the canon seasons, what with Noah hooking up with Emma.**

 **I do think she indirectly played an important part in this fic, since she was a crucial ingredient of Heather's blackmail, which ensured Heather's safety on more than one occasion.**

 **Just twelve contestants left! Six Gophers and six Bass. Review whatever your opinion and fav and follow if you haven't already.**


	12. Episode 12

**Sooo...it's been five months since the last update. Yea, winter seems to be uninspiring season for me, at least in recent years. Back in winter 2014 I was a writing machine.**

 **But at long last, episode 12 is here. Hope you enjoy**

* * *

 **Noah's POV**

After the elimination, Owen and I go for a walk in the forest. I need to clear my head. Actually, detox would be a better word.

"What the heck happened there?" Owen asks as he scratches his head. "A tie, all those marshmallows…you or I could have gone home."

"Yeah…" I nod uncertainly.

"I guess it was Katie who changed her vote. But why didn't she just vote for Heather? Why did she put her game on the line? And yours too? Doesn't she care about…you know, the blackmail?"

I let out a sigh and shake my head.

"Woah…you don't think I changed my vote, do you?"

"Owen…"

"Because I didn't. I totally swear. Not me."

God, even when Owen's innocent he acts suspicious as hell.

"Come on, Noah," he starts to plead. "I'm your best buddy. I would never do something so rash. And not to diss Katie…"

"I DID IT!" I blurt out. I gasp and bring my hands to my mouth.

Everything is silent. Owen turns to me with his mouth agape. He doesn't want to believe it. "What?"

"Katie didn't change her vote. I did. I voted for myself. And then in the tiebreaker I didn't vote at all."

Owen's look of disbelief fades into confusion. "Why?"

I put a hand on his arm, "Let's find a shady spot. This is a long story."

 **Owen's POV**

My head is about to explode. Noah told me everything. Allying with Heather, getting blackmailed (Leshawna was telling the truth), backstabbing Cody, harassing Lindsay, and…poor Katie.

"…I was going to let fate decide tonight. If you or Katie got eliminated, I'd tell the truth, if Trent or Lindsay left, I'd go be a mastermind, and if I left…I'd be free."

"Uh-huh, so Katie left. What happened?" I ask.

Noah sits down against the tree opposite me and bows his head, "She got up all close to me, and said she took the burned marshmallow on purpose so I could stay. I just…I couldn't tell her then and there."

His head and chest flop and he curls into a ball. "And now she probably knows everything. She's in some room in the Playa crying her eyes out…whoops."

"What?"

My buddy starts to sob, "I've fucked up Owen. Totally, royally fucked up. I don't know what to do. I'm a monster."

"You're not a monster," I assure him, moving to put my arm around him. "Not that I condone what you did. Seriously, you touched Lindsay's boobs?"

"Well, like I said, she slapped me away, but that was the plan," he replies, snivelling after every few words.

"But it's okay. You've still got me. I'm here for you," I say. "Heck, if you still wanted to work with Heather I'd support that decision."

"Really?" Noah asks, looking up. There's a glow on his face that I don't like.

"Uh…sure. But you're not going to do that, are you?" I ask hopefully.

Noah takes a pause, "Honestly, I would rather just keep going as I am. This is what I've always wanted after all. To be a master strategist."

I get up and nod slowly, "Okay, okay, I'm a person of my word. Okay."

"Owen, if you don't…"

"It's okay!" I say, unintentionally snapping at him. I scratch my head, "So you're kind of like Macbeth."

Noah muses at this, "Yes, I suppose you could say that."

He looks up to the sky and sighs, "I am in blood stepped in so far that…"

His monologue is interrupted when Heather walks over, "Hey boys. Owen, do you mind if I borrow Noah for a bit?"

"No need. I just told him everything," Noah sighs, getting up.

"Oh," Heather says in surprise. "Well in that case."

She stomps over to Noah, and pokes him several times in the chest, "What the hell happened back there? Are you out of your mind?"

"I dunno," Noah shrugs. "I just wanted to…leave things to fate."

"Well, fate just got one of your allies eliminated. I hope you're happy!" Heather snaps.

"I don't get what you're so pissed about. You're still here. I could have just as easily voted you off."

"You better watch your step from now on…"

"No! You watch _your_ step!" Noah is starting to yell at this point. "You don't control me anymore. The deal's gone, remember?"

"What are you talking about? I don't control you? I created you!"

"Well, sometimes the apprentice becomes the master. Such is life," Noah shrugs.

"You are unbelievable!" Heather screams, then she stomps off.

Noah snorts, and then he looks at me.

"Not gonna lie, I'm a little scared of you right now," I say, my hands in my pockets.

 **Trent's POV**

I sit on the Dock of Shame and lightly strum my guitar while Leshawna paces around in circles behind me.

"I don't get it. I just don't get it," she says.

"I know. You've said that like twenty times now," I say, a bit irritated.

"Well, playing the same chord over and over isn't gonna find the answer either," Leshawna snaps at me.

She sighs and sits down beside me.

"Sorry man, I'm just…what the heck happened last night!?"

"I don't know," I reply. "But you're still here. Isn't that the main thing?"

"I mean, I'm happy about that but…" she rubs her palms. "So what do we know so far? There's a 99% chance it was Noah who changed his vote. Heather wasn't allowed to vote again, and from what I saw, Katie and Owen were set on keeping Heather happy."

"But why would he do that? Wouldn't it have been easier to just vote you off?" I ask, scratching my head.

"Yes, hence 'I don't get it'."

"Maybe he just wanted the attention?" I suggest.

"Noah? Attention? I don't think so," Leshawna smirks.

"Maybe he's changed. We all have."

"No, no. He's a smart guy – he knew switching things up would confuse us. That's his whole plan, I bet."

I shrug, "It's a good a guess as any."

There's silence for a few seconds, then Leshawna turns her head, "Hey, it's Lindsay."

I look to the right. I can make out a thin figure with blonde hair dashing to one of the bushes.

"Looks like it," I nod.

Leshawna folds her arms, "I still wanna know what's up with that girl. She's been acting up for days."

"Maybe it's none of our business? You said you already tried asking."

"I need to give it one last shot," she says, shaking her head. "See ya in a few."

I watch her walk off, then I get back to my music.

 **Leshawna's POV**

I take a deep breath as I make my way across the grass. I look back at Trent who gives me an uncertain thumbs' up. Okay, Leshawna, you can do this.

As I come closer I can hear Lindsay's sobbing. It's no different than before, but it never gets any easier to listen to.

"Lindsay?" I say in a quiet tone.

She lets out a squeak, then she turns her head slowly with a fake smile.

"Hi, Leshawna. Nice to see you!" she beams as the tears continue to pour.

I sigh as I sit down beside her. "I know something's up, girl."

Lindsay gasps, "What? N-n-no there…"

"I understand if you don't want to talk about it, but trust me, it will make you feel better."

She looks at me hesitantly for a few seconds.

"Was it something that happened at home? Or something in the game?"

She looks down and nods her head.

"Something in the game."

She nods again.

"Okay, did someone say something that upset you?" I ask.

She once again nods.

"Oh man," I put my fingers to my face. "It was Heather, wasn't it?"

Lindsay looks up and shakes her head.

"Noah?"

Same result.

"Was it someone on our team?"

"N-not anymore," she mutters.

"Okay, someone who was voted off. Katie?"

Negative again.

"Cody?"

She doesn't respond.

"Was it Cody?"

She clings to her legs and shakes.

"Oh my God. It was Cody," I say in disbelief.

"No it…" she protests. "Okay, it was. But."

I give her a couple of seconds. "But what?"

"But…but…"

She sighs, "I can't tell you. It's too awful."

I may as well drop the bomb, "Trent said he saw you in the bathroom. On the ground naked."

This totally freaks her, and she breaks down crying once again.

"Sh…sh…Lindsay, it's okay," I assure her. "I'm here."

"He said all these creepy things, then he pulled off my towel!" she cries.

Cody? He wouldn't…

"Oh my God," I say incredulously. "I don't believe it."

I look at the girl as she cries even harder.

"Well, at least you told me. That's step one. You'll get through this, I promise."

She stops sobbing and pulls me in for a hug. "Th-thank you."

"Anytime girl," I smile. "Do you want to come hang with me and Trent?"

"Thanks," she says as she wipes her eyes. "But I wanna be alone for now."

"That's okay. See you around," I smile warmly, then I turn to walk off.

 **Ezekiel's POV**

It's early morning. Courtney is sitting by the lake as I pull myself out of the water.

"You should have come in. It's nice and cool, eh," I tell her.

"No thanks. I don't want to waste my energy," Courtney replies. "I can't believe you swim in your hat and boots."

"Why? Is that not okay?" I ask, wrapping myself in a towel.

"Well, the hat is one thing. But the boots totally weigh you down," Courtney points out.

"Huh, I suppose you're right," I say, scratching behind my toque.

I look ahead and notice Sadie walking over. I look at Courtney uncertainly.

"Hey Sadie," I greet with the tip of my soaking hat, and she waves back. "You're up early."

"Yeah, well, I've had quite a bit on my mind," she sighs.

"Would this have to do with…last night's elimination?" Courtney suggests.

"No! Like, wow, Courtney," Sadie frowns, her hands on her hips.

"I'm sorry. It was just a suggestion," Courtney shrugs.

"Well, it's not really any of your business!"

"Sadie, there's no need to snap at her," I say, giving her a look.

"I wasn't snapping. She shouldn't have got involved," Sadie scowls, folding her arms.

"She shouldn't…you came over here!"

 **Courtney's POV**

I have to let my mouth drop open. I didn't expect Zeke to raise his voice.

Sadie's eyes have gone wide, clearly taken aback.

"Now listen, Sadie. You've been acting all hostile toward Courtney for quite a while now, and it's startin' to get on my nerves, eh."

Sadie doesn't respond. She's too stunned.

"Look, I didn't want to say nothing 'cus you're both my good friends but…uh…I…"

I look to Courtney for help.

Sadie's shock turns into a frown as she points a finger towards me. "You put him up to this, didn't you?"

"No," I respond, trying to sound calm.

"See, this is what I'm talking about! You always assume the worst in her! I don't get it!" Zeke's voice has cracked a few times at this point.

Sadie just looks down at her shoes. She takes a couple of deep breaths

Zeke shakes his head, "Aw shoot, I shouldn't have yelled. I need to clear my head."

He runs off, still with the towel around his waist, only to turn back for a second and say, "I still meant every word, Sadie!"

And with that, he disappears.

I turn to Sadie and am about to open my mouth, but she scoffs and walks off.

Seriously, what did I do?

 **Eva's POV**

"Eight…nine…ten!" I say aloud as I lift weights in the room. I don't have to worry about making noise since the other two girls were out when I woke up.

I put down the dumbbells when I hear a familiar groaning coming from outside.

I step out onto the porch, flask of water in hand, and watch Geoff beat the loving shit out of Harold.

"Aw! Aw! Gosh!" the scrawny nerd gasps as Geoff is on top of him, throwing punches left and right. "Aw!"

I know Geoff is basically a child but bullying Harold? That's just sad.

"What's going on here?" I ask as I stand beside them.

"What's up, Eva?" Geoff greets, still focusing on Harold. "Me and Harold…"

"Get up, and then keep talking!" I bark at him.

"Yes," Geoff says immediately, and he and Harold get to their feet. Harold clutches his chest and coughs hysterically.

"Me and Harold were talking and I said I'd taken up martial arts recently. He said he was an expert in kung fu so…we had a little sparring session."

"Uh-huh," I nod, unconvinced. "I'm no expert in martial arts but that looked nothing like it. Looked more like MMA."

"But MMA is short for 'mixed martial arts," Harold points out, scratching his head.

"Carry on," I shrug. I'm about to walk off only to get a blast of Chef in my ear, "Listen up you cockroaches! I want all campers to report to the Dock of Shame at 0900 hours!"

 **Geoff's POV**

So after Chef's terrifying introduction (I got whipped way more than last time) the twelve of us are left to face the canoes.

We're about to go lift them up when Courtney raises her hand, "Permission to speak?"

Chef lowers his glasses, "What is it?"

"I would like to propose a quick team meeting," she says.

Chef sighs, "Sixty seconds."

"Thank you," Courtney smiles, and gestures for the six of us to get into a huddle.

"Okay guys," she says, arms around Ezekiel and Harold. "I've been thinking of a strategy for this challenge."

"How? It's mostly physical," Harold points out.

"Yes, but in the end only a portion of it matters," Courtney says. "So…I was thinking we just throw the first part."

"Really? Why?" Zeke asks in confusion.

"Because this challenge will be brutal, and the canoe will just waste our energy," Courtney says. "One of us should just drop out now."

"Why don't you do it?" Sadie suggests, which makes Zeke frown at her.

"But…I…" Courtney protests, before shaking her head. "Okay, if nobody else wants to sit out, I'll do it."

After a couple of seconds, Harold raises his head, "I'm pretty worn out from the kung fu match this morning."

Just worn out? Dude, I bruised half your body.

"Then it's settled," Courtney smiles. "Give it…say…five minutes."

 **Lindsay's POV**

"Canoes up!" Masterchef roars at us.

Okay, I can do this. How hard can it be? Holding up a boat for a little while.

Alright, maybe I can't do it for very long. But I'll last a little bit.

It has to have been a minute by now. How long will it take for someone else to drop out? Ten or twenty minutes maybe. I can last twenty-one at least. No longer. I can last longer…

Ugh, I want to throw up for even letting that sentence go through my head. Make it go away. Go away.

I can't make it go away. I wish I'd never heard it. No. No.

I just realised I totally forgot about what happened with Cory. Talking to Leshawna worked. But now I'm thinking about it again. No, go away! Go away!

I don't want to think about that. That was disturbing. I felt like total shit. I mean, I've felt like total shit many times. But that was one of them.

Why am I thinking about all this stuff? Is it stress? I think…

My brain words are interrupted by a grunt.

"I…can't…do it!" screams a voice. It's that skinny ginger guy. What's his name again? "Oh, how could I let my team down like this? It cannot happen!"

"Looks like we got ourselves a quitter!" Masterchef annunciates.

All of us watch as…oh my gosh I am still blanking on his name.

But he goes across the dock to ring the bell.

What's his name again? Something beginning with 'A'? 'B'? 'C'? No…it can't be. That can't be Cory. I mean, I don't remember it being him. But my memory of that evening is a little fuzzy. For some reason I keep picturing that other guy on my team. The really smart one…his name begins with 'N'. Oh, I don't know.

But what if that is Cory? I thought we voted him off. But that guy is on the other team. Was there a team switch at some point? This game has messed with my head for years. Of course it's continuing to do that.

 **Heather's POV**

Since alpha-geek dropped out, the rest of us are brought to the mess hall for food.

Blah, blah, Chef's explanation, blah, blah, we open the garbage cans, yadda, yadda.

That's when I notice Owen snorting beside me.

"What are you laughing at?" I ask with an eye roll.

"You'll see," he smirks.

"…serve me up some of that," Chef responds to Chris, and then the two of them walk out.

Most of the contestants aren't bothered with the trash-cans, but Zeke and Lindsay have started to dig in.

"Hey, I found an egg!" Zeke announced, holding up a fried egg with some tiny bits of dirt in it.

"Bacon! I love bacon!" Lindsay squealed, pulling out similarly filthy food of that name.

Owen beside me is still sniggering. I look back at him and his lips are tight.

"Alright Owen. What's the joke?" I ask, hands on my hips.

"I put it there," Owen grins. "I asked Chef for seconds four times so we'd get some good stuff."

I shoot him a disgusted look, and Leshawna looks similarly put off. "Your big plan was to put Chef's eggs and bacon in the trash?"

"Yeah."

"Man that is gross," Ghetto Girl gags.

"I suppose but…you know…I thought…" Owen says sheepishly, touching his fingers together.

"Mm-mm, just what I needed," Zeke says as he licks his fingers. "If someone gets a plate I can fish out the next one."

* * *

Now that literal grub is over, it's time for the infamous 'Thriller' sequence.

It's been going for five minutes now. Just the eleven of us repeating the same dance moves over and over. How long is this challenge meant to last? Nobody dropped out the last time we did this. Not even Duncan for being a cheeky little shit.

I'm in the back row with Sadie and Owen. I notice that Harold isn't here, even though Lindsay did the dance the first time. But I guess you can never expect Lindsiot to pay attention.

Sadie's a pretty awful dancer if I say so myself. She's having a lot of trouble keeping with the steps. Her rhythm is awful and she seems to have trouble telling left from right.

Just then, Chef stops dancing and stomps over to the boombox.

"You, chubby girl. Get outta here!" Chef barks, pointing at the paler twin.

"But…I…ugh!" Sadie growls, storming away.

"Still regret making Harold throw the challenge?" I taunt at Courtney in front of me.

"I did not make Harold throw the challenge!" she protests, turning around.

"Oh please. He's worse liar than Izzy," I respond, hands on my hips.

"Shut the heck up back there!" Chef roars at us.

 **Sadie's POV**

Yeah, that challenge was a disaster. I just haven't been able to focus at all. I can't stop thinking about the last elimination. But I can't say how I feel about it. I'm not sad that Katie left. But I wouldn't necessarily say I'm happy about it either. I just feel this…empty feeling. Almost as if I'm bothered that I don't feel anything.

And if that's not bad enough I also have to deal with Zeke being mad at me. I still don't get why he trusts Courtney so much. She's Courtney! Everything about her personality is so fake and forced, you can smell it from a mile away. I shouldn't get too mad at the boy since he's super naïve but still…it's frustrating.

Anyway I head back to the cabin. I don't see Harold anywhere so I guess he went inside. I suppose I'll do that as well.

I need a way to pass the time, so I guess I'll root through my suitcase for something to do.

Clothes, clothes, more clothes. Why did I bring so many of the same outfit?

Honestly, I'm too worn out to do anything. I'll just take a nap. After the shit Chef put us through so far, I need it.

I kick off my shoes and pull the duvet over me. I'm too tired to care about the lumps and creaky springs. Too tired…

* * *

"… _and the final marshmallow goes to…Owen."_

" _Yeah! Wo-hoo!" the big guy cheers as he gets up from his stump and gobbles up the plate._

" _Sadie," Chris says. "The team has spoken. Time to get your butt outta here."_

 _I sigh as I get up, "Oh well. I tried my best."_

 _I turn and look at the remaining contestants. The rest of them wave their goodbyes, but Ezekiel is too busy talking to Courtney to notice._

" _Zeke?" I call out. "Zeke?"_

 _Suddenly, Chef grabs me and throws me over his shoulder. I get chucked onto the Boat of Losers and it sails away. Into a fog._

 _Before I know it, the boat has landed in Playa Des Losers. It's still dark, so I don't expect anyone to be around. But I see two figures hanging out by the pool._

 _No. It can't be…_

" _Oh hi Sadie," Katie greets in a condescending tone. "It's so nice to see you."_

 _Beside her is a tall black girl whose hair has been tied into pigtails. She's wearing the same bikini as my former friend._

" _W-what…n-no," I stutter._

" _This is Bailey, by the way. She's my new BFFFL!"_

" _Hi," Bailey says, looking at me with a creepy smile._

" _Bailey, you remember Sadie, that mean girl who abandoned me?" Katie asks._

" _Yes. I always hear about her," Bailey replies._

" _I didn't abandon you! You abandoned me!" I protest, tears filling my eyes._

" _I'm afraid you are wrong," Bailey chimes in. "We are in the timeline where Katie's abandonment doesn't exist. You, however, do act like a brat and ditch Katie for no reason."_

" _No. But I…" I continue to cry._

" _Destroy her!" Katie orders. I quickly make a run for it, but Bailey is on my tail, and catches up easily. She grabs me and hoists me in the air, then she does a spin and sends me flying into the pool. I'm in such a shock that I can't swim._

" _Help! Someone wake up!" I scream, throwing my arms about._

" _Yes! Drown the whale!" Katie cackles, and Bailey joins in. "Drown the whale! Drown the whale!"_

 _Suddenly tons of other Baileys emerge from the bushes, surrounding the entire pool. "Drown the whale! Drown the whale!"_

 **Harold's POV**

Yes. So close. Almost there.

Just then the door bursts open. I gasp and throw the blanket over me.

"Harold, oh my God!" Geoff explains, putting his hand over his eyes. "Do we need to go over the rules?"

"What rules?" Ezekiel asks, following behind, which makes Geoff laugh.

"Anyway, Courtney called a meeting on the girls' side. You should get over there now," Geoff says.

"Okay…just…give me a minute," I say, still panicking.

"Dude, you are unbelievable," Geoff snorts, then he walks out the door.

"I still don't get it!" Ezekiel exclaims, following after him.

* * *

After I change my pants I enter the girls' side with the rest of the Killer Bass.

"How did the last challenge go?" I ask.

"Shut up," Eva growls at me.

"Eva got eliminated," Ezekiel says.

"I said shut up!" she roars, tossing a pillow at his face.

"What? But she's our strongest player," I gasp.

"The essay portion. That's what got me. Can we move on now?" Eva asks through gritted teeth.

"Yes! Listen to Eva!" Courtney barks, clapping her hands. "We're here to make a plan."

She clears her throat, "So, we've been eating nothing but trash all day. Meanwhile, our superiors are stuffing their faces with peanut-butter-jelly and ice cream sandwiches. I for one have had enough of it. Who's with me?"

"Is that a real question?" Geoff chuckles as he adjusts his hat. "Heck yeah."

Everyone else cheers in agreement, then Courtney adds, "So who wants to join me in the journey?"

We all look at each other in hesitation. Apparently nobody else is eager to face the risk of Chef's wrath.

"Sadie should do it," Zeke suggests, pointing at her.

"Zeke what are you doing?" Sadie hisses at him.

"Interesting suggestion, but I don't think she's the best choice," Courtney replies.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sadie scowls at her.

"Nothing," Courtney says defensively. "I just think there's better options."

"Who? Who's a better option than me?" Sadie frowns, hands on her hips.

"Well…uh…" Courtney hesitates.

"Um, I'd be happy to…" Geoff says, raising his hand, only for Courtney to interrupt him. "Fine, Sadie. You can come with me."

"I will," Sadie responds sharply.

"So…" I trail, raising my hand. "Are we not involving the Gophers in this?"

"No way. This is a challenge. We need our strength," Courtney replies with an eye roll. "Come on."

With that, she and Sadie get up and leave.

I sit down in Courtney's space next to Ezekiel.

"Why Sadie?" I ask him.

"Hm?" his eye turn to me.

"Like Courtney said there were better choices…"

Ezekiel yawns, "Augh, I am very sleepy after today. I think I'll go to bed."

He gets up and Geoff shrugs, "Cool. More food for us."

"I can stay," Zeke says quickly, taking another spot next to Eva.

 **Courtney's POV**

Sadie and I make our away across the grass. Not one of us has said a word in at least two minutes.

"So what is it?" Sadie scowls.

"What?"

"What's wrong with me? Why am I not the best choice?"

I don't reply.

"Come on, Courtney, what is it?"

I sigh, "If you must know…Zeke told me to say it."

"What?"

"We planned it on the way back. He said that you'd help me out if I used reverse psychology."

Sadie thinks about it for a second, then frowns, "Well that's bullshit."

"And what makes you say that?"

"You expect me to believe Zeke would do something that scheming?"

"Don't underestimate him. He's a smart guy," I say defensively.

"I never said he wasn't," Sadie replies. "He'd just never do something that manipulative."

"I think he made his motivation pretty clear," I say, raising my tone. "He's sick of us fighting."

"I'm sick of you!" she exclaims.

"Shush, keep your voice down," I hiss, pointing ahead at the craft service tent. It's only a dot to us, but we can still see it.

"Hey, look, there's people walking out," Sadie says. I look and there are two figures leaving the tent.

"Uh-oh. They must be interns. We better hide for a bit," I suggest, and we both run for a bush.

 **Heather's POV**

Me and Leshawna walk out of Chris' tent, each armed with enough food to feed five Owens.

"You know, we're a pretty good team," I say to her.

"True," Leshawna agrees. "You're still going down, though."

"Same to you," I smirk. "Do you think the Bass were planning on doing a raid tonight?"

"Maybe. But knowing Courtney, she would have stopped them," Leshawna replies.

We both burst out laughing as we spot the Gopher cabin up ahead.

 **Sadie's POV**

"This is it," Courtney whispers as we enter the tent. "Follow my lead."

We both slowly crawl along the buffet table, and Courtney opens the fridge. I'm almost excited now, but my face falls immediately.

"Huh?" Courtney whispers. "It's empty."

"What? How did this happen?" I gasp.

Courtney puts her hand to her face. "Those two people. They weren't interns, they were Gophers."

She shakes her head, "Alright, plan B. The buffet table."

We both crawl over. We hold our sacks open and start dragging food off the table.

"Easy," I say to myself. "Easy does it…"

I accidentally drop a plate of jelly, and it lands on the ground with a clang.

"Huh?" Chris says, turning his head. "What was that?"

"I think we got a couple of raccoons in the vicinity," Chef answers.

Me and Courtney look at each other in horror.

"Quick," she hisses, lifting the table cloth. She crawls under and I follow behind but Chef grabs my leg.

"What on earth do you think you're doing!?" he yells.

"Uh…" I stammer.

He looks ahead and notices the empty fridge.

"Oh I see," he says, hands of his hips. "My homemade gruel wasn't good enough for ya. You don't touch my food, soldier!"

He pulls up the table cloth and grabs my sack, only to notice Courtney curled up against the table-leg.

"Courtney," Chef sighs shaking his head. "I thought you were better than this."

"Well sorry, but the food you served us was not sufficient," Courtney says. "So there."

"You two are in big trouble," Chef tell us, lowering his sunglasses. "One night solitary confinement. In the boathouse."

"Nooo!" I scream.

 **Trent's POV**

I watch as Leshawna and Lindsay take part in a soda drinking contest.

"Ah," Lindsay sighs as she puts her bottle back down. "Done."

Leshawna's eyes go wide as cola shoots out of her nose, and the two of them burst out laughing.

"Good game, Linds," Leshawna says.

"Haha, thanks," Lindsay giggles. "I need to use the little girls' room."

She gets up and dashes off, and Leshawna goes to sit beside me on my bunk.

"She seems happy," I say to her.

"Yeah, for now," I reply. I sigh and lean my head on my elbow, "I just…I can't get my head around what she said. Cody harassed her?"

"He was always kind of a creep," Trent points out.

"Yeah, but taking off her towel? That is just low," I say. "He should know better than that."

I shake my head, then Leshawna asks, "You said you saw Lindsay crying the day Cody got eliminated, right?"

"Yeah."

"Doesn't that seem a bit too convenient?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I didn't vote for Cody, and you didn't vote for him," Leshawna explains. "Which means it was Heather's alliance."

"What are you trying to say?"

"I was thinking…what if it wasn't Cody? What if it was someone else?" Leshawna asks. "Lindsay isn't the best with names, so it wouldn't be too hard to fake it."

"Who else could it have been?" I ask.

"Well Heath…" Leshawna pauses and she gasps, "No."

"What?"

"No, it can't be," Leshawna says, putting her hands to her head.

"What? What's going on?" I ask.

"I need to go outside. On my own," Leshawna replies, and she rushes out.

"That's okay," I say as she bolts out the door. "I'll just talk to Owen and Noah."

 **Leshawna's POV**

I take a deep breath as I stand on the porch.

Noah! Noah harassed Lindsay. That was how they got Lindsay to vote for Cody.

I didn't want to believe it. I wanted to believe that he'd have more class than that. But who else could it have been?

I doubt Heather could get away with doing it herself, unless she's a master of disguise. And Owen and Katie were lied to by Noah so I doubt they were in on the plan.

I suppose there is an off chance that it was someone on the other team. It could have been Ezekiel – he's not exactly got a clean record with women. But that's just a possibility.

Oh my God I am so mad right now. I need to punch something.

 **Harold's POV**

The four remaining members of the Bass remain on the floor. Zeke has already fallen asleep, and Geoff, Eva and I all stare off in different directions, not really in the mood to chat.

What is taking them so long? The craft service tent isn't that far away. And taking into account the…

SMASH!

I let out a shriek when a loud bang erupts next to me. I look to my left and see a big hole in the wall and…do my eyes deceive me?

"Hey, watch it!" Eva yells at Leshawna.

"Oh I'm sorry. I just learned something that really pissed me off," Leshawna sighs.

"Finally, someone who understands," Eva says.

"So what are you guys doing up so late?" Leshawna asks. "And what's Eva doing on your side?"

"Uh…she was having a nightmare and needed to talk," Geoff says quickly. Eva shoots him a pissed off look.

"Okay, cool," Leshawna shrugs. "I'll be on my way."

She starts to walk away, when something comes to my mind.

"Leshawna, wait!" I exclaim.

She turns back, "Yeah, baby?"

"I was wondering, do you want to form an alliance come the merge?"

I notice Eva roll her eyes.

Leshawna chuckles, "Probably not the best time to ask, but I'll keep it in mind. See ya."

She is such an angel.

 **Courtney's POV**

Sadie and I sit alone in the boathouse, trying to ignore the many scary and sharp objects that line the wall.

"Hmph," I hear Sadie grunt.

"Still ignoring me, are you?" I ask.

She doesn't respond. She just faces away from me with her arms crossed.

"It wasn't meant to turn out that way. Mistakes happen."

"Of course you say that now," Sadie hisses.

"What?"

"It was my fault we got caught. I was the one who dropped the plate. You can only own up for my mistakes," she snarls.

"That's not true," I insist. "There's…uh…I mean, I could have planned to do the raid before the Gophers. That was a mistake."

Sadie grunts again.

"Okay, serious talk," I say. "Why are you mad at me?"

"Because," Sadie scowls. "I know you're just using me and Zeke."

"And why do you think this?" I ask.

"Because you've never talked to us before," Sadie says. "You just came to us when it was convenient."

I am shocked by the words that are coming out of her mouth.

"So? Have you and Zeke ever talked before?"

"That's different."

"How?"

"Well…look, the point is that you come off as trying too hard," Sadie says. "Always asking me if I'm alright."

"When have I done this?"

"Like…" Sadie sighs. "On Boney Island."

"Yeah," I nod. "That's when all this started. After you back out of Katie getting…"

"Is Katie your answer to everything!?" she snaps. A tear falls from her eye. It isn't long before she's sobbing with her head in her hands.

"It might not be the answer to everything but…is it the answer to that?" I ask.

"Okay fine," she wails, still not looking up. "I thought I'd be happy. I thought Katie would get what she deserved. But…I just couldn't…"

"Why did she deserve it?"

Sadie sighs, "She was going to take a job with a fashion company in Korea and leave me behind. We had our whole lives planned together, and she was ready to throw it all away."

"Well, people just drift apart sometimes," I tell her. "I don't keep in touch with anyone from high-school, and only three people from college."

"We were best friends for fifteen years," she cries. "You don't just get over someone after that long."

"I understand," I nod. "But, assuming we're staying here for good, you won't have to worry about that for ages."

"It's still in my mind, though," she says. "That will never go away."

"I know. There's plenty of things that I'd like to forget," I tell her. "A lot of things."

Sadie doesn't respond. She puts her arms around me, and rests her head on my shoulder.

 **Noah's POV**

It should come as a surprise to absolutely nobody that I did not pass Chef's dreaded obstacle course. Sports – still not my forte.

Another casualty was Owen. Big guy stuffed his face just a little too much the night before, and ended up getting the worst cramps. As soon as Chef declared him eliminated he threw up all over him. Gross, but satisfying.

The Bass definitely weren't at the top of their game.

If it wasn't bad enough that they lost Eva, they all seemed pretty exhausted.

Except Zeke. He was surprisingly peppy. Too peppy. So he got through fine.

And Geoff was pretty close to getting cut but he slipped through as well.

Courtney didn't make it though. But I guess spending the night in the boathouse with snoring Sadie takes its toll on a person.

And that brings us to the last part of the challenge. The tree-hang.

Heather, Trent and Leshawna against Zeke and Geoff. I must say, I enjoy our odds of succeeding.

Home-school has gone barefoot for some reason. I guess his shoes would be too much weight to bear.

But it doesn't make a difference. With a yelp and a thud, he's the first one out of this part.

Three Gophers against one hopeless Bass.

There's no way Geoff can outlast all three

Or have I jinxed it?

I haven't said it out loud or anything.

"Ahhh!" and there goes Leshawna. Having a nice rack and ass has its advantages, but not in this case. 2 against 1 now.

I continue to gaze at the three remaining 'soldiers', evaluating who has the best chance of sticking around.

Heather has kept up ballet and gymnastics after all these years so she probably has excellent balance.

And I know Geoff did a lot of personal training after he won Ridonculous Race. I've read the tabloids. Yeah, I sort of grew an addiction to reading them after my sister told me that Emma and I made page 5 of the Sun.

Trent's kind of a wildcard though. I don't know if he even has a sports background. If he did he gave it up years ago. I have no idea what he even did after Total Drama. In the original timeline, I hadn't seen Trent since we were all on that boat expecting to be in season 4.

Actually, I remember seeing some blog post from Sierra last year (or seven years from now) saying she had lost track of Trent and was doing a nationwide search. If my memory serves me right, this was about a month before Cody filed a restraining order against her. I don't know if those are related, but I can connect the dots how I like.

I've been so busy thinking about Trent that I didn't notice him fall off the branch. It's 1 on 1 now.

 **Geoff's POV**

Okay, I can do this.

I just need to beat one more person. And it's Heather.

What has Heather got that I don't? I'm stronger, better-looking, smar…I suppose she beats me in the brain department, but how's that going to help her here?

Heather. Such a mean bad witch.

How is she still in the game? That makes no sense. Nothing makes sense.

I feel funny.

 **Leshawna's POV**

The Bass let out gasps of horror as Geoff falls to the ground.

We did it! We finally won another challenge!

Honestly, the last thing I wanted to do was go to another elimination. After the mind-fuck that was last time, I don't even want to think about it.

Chef goes up to Heather and she is horrified as he gives her the same speech that he gave Gwen.

"War? Let me think about it. No," she says sassily, folding her arms.

Even I have to laugh at that.

But my laughing doesn't last long. Now that the challenge is over, only one thing pops back into my head.

How could Noah do that!? I'm going to wring his neck…

 **Ezekiel's POV**

I whistle to my myself as I scrub my armpits with soap in the communal shower. Just what I needed after the hell that was the last three days.

"Hello Ezekiel." I jump as Harold enters and turns on the shower opposite me.

"Hi," I reply politely.

"I have some good news," he grins at me.

Can you tell me later? When we're not naked.

"Leshawna dropped by after you fell asleep two nights ago," Harold says. "I asked her if she wanted to form an alliance, and she said she'd consider it."

I still don't reply.

"Wouldn't that be great? If we were the final 3?"

"Sure," I mumble.

"So I think it would be beneficial if we voted together starting tonight," he tells me.

My eyes go wide at this.

"I was thinking we give Courtney the boot. She doesn't do anything except boss us around. And her plans this challenge were a disaster."

That is far from fair but carry on.

"What do you say?"

"I'll think about it, eh," I mutter. I walk out, grab the towel I left on the bench, and tie it around my waist.

"Hey Zeke," Harold calls out. "You dropped your soap."

I look back at the showers. My bar of soap is still there, so I bend over and pick it up.

"Thanks," I say, but I notice Harold sniggering.

"What are you laughing at?" I ask. He doesn't reply. He just laughs louder.

What a weirdo.

* * *

I meet up with Courtney and Sadie in the mess hall as planned.

"Hi," I greet as I walk in.

"Just a moment," Courtney says. "Girl talk."

I stand with my arms folded as they whisper and giggle to each other for a few more seconds, then Courtney gestures for me to come over.

"It's nice to see you getting along, eh. You've no idea how happy that makes me," I say.

"Well, a night in the boat-house does stuff to you," Sadie giggles.

"So, about the vote," I say scratching my neck. "Harold says that he's voting for Courtney."

"What?" Courtney gasps. "Oh, he is going to regret that."

"But he also said he says he's forming an alliance with Leshawna. We could all join together – that's five votes in the merge, eh?"

"Yeah, I'm not sure I want to ally with Harold," Courtney said cynically.

"I wonder if Leshawna is still mad at me," Sadie ponders.

"For what?" I ask. "Oh."

That's right. It's Katie and Sadie's fault that Leshawna got eliminated. I don't know how I'd live with that.

Then again I have to live with all the horrible stuff that happened to me.

"So no alliance then?" I ask.

"No. In fact, we should just boot Harold altogether," Courtney says. "I don't want someone to stay in the game if they want me gone."

"But the merge is coming up. We could take out a big threat," Sadie points out.

"True. But the votes matter way more than the challenges. We've seen alliances alter games."

"I'm gonna have to agree with Sadie," I say. "I think getting rid of the threats is a bigger priority."

"But…" Courtney sighs, "Okay, fine, majority rules. We'll take out a threat."

 **Harold's POV**

After two episodes of blissful safety, we're back at the bonfire.

I really have no idea who's going to leave. But I have Zeke's vote on my side, and considering how disjointed our ceremonies have been, it might just be enough.

"I only have five marshmallows on my plate. And these marshmallows represent the campers that will continue to be campers here. You've all cast your ballots in the confession can. If I do not call your name, you must immediately walk to the Dock of Shame, catch the Boat of Losers, and you can't come back ever."

…

"Ezekiel."

…

"Geoff."

…

"Harold."

"Yes," I say triumphantly as I go to collect my treat.

…

"Courtney."

Oh well, looks like other people were bigger targets.

But if Courtney got two votes, then the other two must have got two votes as well? But then it would be a tie and Courtney would still be sitting.

Oh well, the bottom 2 isn't always accurate. Remember when they put Leshawna in the bottom 2 with Bridgette and Geoff in action? Heather must have at least got Bridgette and Geoff's votes.

"Campers, this is the final marshmallow of the night," Chris announces. Sadie is shaking a little while Eva looks horrified.

…

"Sadie."

"Phew," Sadie says in relief as she gets up.

"What!? No!" Eva screams. "This isn't fair!"

"Sorry, Eva. Dock of Shame awaits," Chris tells her.

She takes a couple deep breaths. "Whatever. I'll be back. You'll see."

And with that she marches over to the dock.

I guess that wraps up another elimination. The merge is so close. Only one thing could cause my fall…boobies.

* * *

 **Votes**

 **Eva (3) – Courtney, Ezekiel, Sadie**

 **Sadie (2) – Eva, Geoff**

 **Courtney (1) – Harold**

 **Remaining Screaming Gophers: Heather, Leshawna, Lindsay, Noah, Owen, Trent**

 **Remaining Killer Bass: Courtney, Ezekiel, Geoff, Harold, Sadie**

 **And now it's Eva's turn to leave. I will admit that I could have done more with her, and in the end, her lack of social game was her downfall.**

 **Also, I have an announcement. I may be starting a new fic in the future. I don't know if many of you saw that Funny or Die video about 'Kid Nation', a controversial 2007 reality show where children had to build a society from scratch. Well I did and I ended up watching the entire series, and now I'm going to make a Total Drama AU. 40 Total Drama contestants from all three generations will participate in a Kid Nation-esque show. But it won't be for a while. I have a personal rule where I have to write five episodes of a new fic before publishing.**

 **As always review whatever your opinion and I will see you next time.**


	13. Episode 13

**Disclaimer: I do not own Total Drama. I also do not hold responsibility for the Coronavirus. I am but a figure made of television static and I do not have eyes, nose, a mouth or any sort of way to catch diseases. (Except malnutrition, as readers of Euro-Drama Farmyard would know)**

 **I know, another update in just over a week. Maybe this virus isn't so bad after all. As always, hope you guys enjoy!**

* * *

 **Geoff's POV**

Everyone is awoken by the whirring of a plane.

Oh fuck, I'm not in the best mood as it is.

Eva got eliminated last night! Eva! I know the merge is coming soon but there's still one episode left. Don't they care about winning?

I sit up and stretch. I'm in no rush. Chris is gonna take forever to park that plane.

I take my time putting on my pants and shirt, and I put on my hat as I step outside.

"This week you'll participate in three challenges. First up, Extreme Sofa-Bed Skydiving!"

 **Ezekiel's POV**

Sadie and I hold onto Courtney's arms as we head to the dining hall.

"It's okay, Courtney. Deep breaths. Deep breaths," I say calmly.

"No, it's not okay!" Courtney screams. "I'm gonna be up in a plane! Driven by Chris!"

"Didn't you do that for a whole season?" I ask, scratching my head.

"It's the heights," Courtney squeaks. "And he couldn't even park this morning."

She sighs, "You know what? I think I'll just forfeit."

"No, Courtney!" Sadie says angrily. "I want a good shower and we are getting one!"

"And besides, if we win, the other team might get rid of Heather," I add.

"I just…I don't know," Courtney groans, landing her face in the mush we were served for breakfast.

 **Trent's POV**

"You can do this, Trent," Leshawna says as she massages my shoulder. "Just, you know, try not to stand too close to Courtney."

"First thing on my mind," Trent nods. "She already got me eliminated in the deer hunt."

I look down and notice something hit the ground. A small card with a heart on the front.

"Oops, dropped something," Leshawna says, bending down to pick it up.

"Another card from your lover?" I smirk.

"Yep. Dang fool's tryna butter me up with cheesy limericks," Leshawna says amusedly.

"And? Is it working?" I ask.

"I don't know," Leshawna sighs. "It's just…it's been so long. I wouldn't know where to start."

"I know that feeling," I say, shaking my head.

 **Courtney's POV**

My legs shake like jelly as I stand in the aeroplane with Trent.

"Oh my G-god," I stammer. "It's so high up."

"It's not so bad," Trent shrugs. "Chris just exaggerated the height to scare us."

"If you could just fill these out!" Chris shouts at us, pointing at waivers of some kind.

"What are they?" I ask.

"They're for organ donation. I have this…"

"Just shut up! You're not funny, Chris!" I scream.

"Okay. Sheesh," Chris says, rolling his eyes. "Courtney, you're up first."

"Alright…oh my gosh," I say as I look down at the island.

"It's pretty simple. Pull the red cord, then the blue," Chris says to me.

I take a couple of deep breaths.

"Okay, here goes," I say to myself, then I jump.

I scream as I fall. I'm falling. Okay, red cord first, then blue.

It's not working. I'm still falling.

"Sorry, blue cord first, then red cord. My bad!" Chris calls from the plane.

I'm gonna die. I'm gonna fucking die.

Never mind. The parachute is out. I'm alright.

"I'm alive? I'm alive!" I cheer. "Wo-hoo!"

"Well yeah, pulling the wrong cord just delays it by a few seconds," Chris calls to me. "And sometimes it gets tangled. Would not recommend."

"Thanks for the advice!" I yell back.

I look down. God, it is still scary. Where's the rest of my team.

"Killer Bass, where are you!?" I scream.

I can see a red dot on the beach. It must be my team.

"Over here! I'm over here!" I yell. I try to float myself over to dry land, but I'm not making much progress. Suddenly a huge gust of wind comes in my direction. The parachute takes a swerve and wraps around my body. I'm falling faster.

"Help!" I scream. "Help!"

 **Heather's POV**

I can't help but smile as I watch Courtney plummet into the water, all tangled up.

"Ooh," Leshawna says from behind me. "That can't be good."

"Is someone gonna save her?" Owen asks.

"Maybe someone could use their webbed feet," Leshawna says, poking me in the arm.

I hate to admit it, but Leshawna just gave me a great idea.

I kick off my wedges, run to the dock and leap into the water.

The girl is still continuing to thrash about in the parachute, like a fly caught in a spider's web.

"Help!" she screams once again. "Help!"

"It's okay, Courtney, I'm here to save you," I say.

"Heather, is that you? What are…"

"I'll make this quick," I continue. "I rescue you, and you join my alliance when the teams merge."

"What!?" she exclaims. "Whatever, someone else will rescue me eventually."

"Maybe when you're unconscious," I shoot back. "So what will it be? Alliance or serious injury?"

Courtney sighs, "Alright, fine. I'll vote with you. Now get me out of here!"

"Not just you," I say. "I know you've got home-school under your thumb. He has to join too."

"Yes," she says. "It's me and home-school. A two person alliance. We'll join you."

"Good," I nod, swimming closer to her. "Now let's get you out of here."

I grab the parachute and begin to pull it off of her. I love blackmail.

 **Leshawna's POV**

"I got her!" Heather exclaims as she carries Courtney to the shore. The rest of the Gophers clap and I reluctantly join in. I suspect she had ulterior motives but a life saved is a life saved.

"Nice one, Heather!" Owen cheers.

"You can put me down now," Courtney says, and Heather instinctively drops her.

"Guys, focus!" Noah exclaims as Trent comes parachuting down.

We get back into position and carefully manoeuvre the couch so that Trent lands successfully.

"Yes! I made it!" Trent cheers as he lands on the pull-out mattress.

"Gophers win, Bass lose, one – zero!" Chris announces as he flies past.

I can spot the Bass running down the nearby hills.

"Oh my gosh, Courtney!" Sadie gasps as she runs over. Courtney is still on the ground from being dropped by Heather.

But there's no time for me to stop and watch. I need to get to round 2 to do the rodeo.

 **Sadie's POV**

Courtney was alright, thank goodness. I think Heather dropping her did more damage than actually drowning. Next up is the rodeo, and it's the same people as last time – Geoff vs Leshawna.

As Geoff steps up to the plate, Courtney grabs the back of his shirt and whispers, "Remember, you're supposed to sit on the moose, not stand."

"Yeah, got it," Geoff says, rolling his eyes.

He climbs onto the moose and tightly grabs its antlers.

The moose growls as he lands, and Chef opens the gate.

"Woo! Giddy up!" Geoff cheers as the moose thrashes about.

"6…7…8. Geoff passes," Chris announces, and Geoff leaps off and lands on his feet. "Leshawna, you're up now."

The sister herself clambers up the fence and onto the moose. Chef releases the gate, and she screams her head off as the moose gallops off.

"No, back here boy! Back here!" Leshawna shouts, giving it a tug. "I MEAN IT!"

The moose lets out a whimper and turns back, and Leshawna gently gets down.

"Leshawna also passes," Chris says. "Which means we go to a tiebreaker. Two more campers will take on the Great Canadian himself. Let's go with…Noah from the Gophers, and Sadie from the Bass."

"Say what?" I say in surprise.

"Seriously?" Noah complains, folding his arms. "Okay no. That thing will devour me."

"You're forfeiting?" Chris asks.

"Did I not make that clear?"

"Suit yourself," Chris shrugs. "Sadie, you still have to pass the challenge or we'll pass it on to two more competitors."

"Oh, alright," I say nervously as I slowly make my way over.

"You'll be fine, dudette," Geoff assures me. "You just have to show it who's boss."

I land on the moose, and it immediately roars and tries to shake me off.

Chef opens the gate. The animal jumps about, and I'm battling for my life.

"Nice moose," I try to say as calmly as possible. "Nice moose!"

I'm not calm. I'm screaming my head off.

I grab the moose's antlers for support but this seems to anger it even more, and it bucks me off. I'm sent flying, and then I land in the pile of old socks.

"Ooh, that's gotta smell rank," Chris chuckles as he adjusts his nose-peg. "But you did just make it past the 8 second mark. Bass win!"

I let out a cheer, but I start coughing after about a second due to the smell.

 **Owen's POV**

And now for the last challenge.

It just dawned on me that I'll be the only one who didn't get to participate in a challenge today. Unless this challenge also goes to a tie and there's another round.

Where's Lindsay? The Gophers are meant to be up now. She should…holy macaroni!

I look up and down at her. She's wearing this incredibly revealing bikini. There's a thin strip going over her nipples, and a tiny triangle of nylon around her waist.

"Oh for crying out loud. Lindsay, you realise this is a kids' show," Heather groans, covering her eyes.

"It is?" I ask. "I mean, I know it's on a kids' channel but the…"

"Shut up, Owen," Heather sighs.

"Yes ma'am," I say quickly.

"Who's driving for the Bass?" Leshawna asks.

 **Lindsay's POV**

Yay. This is it. My challenge!

"Go!"

The lawnmower speeds off. How does it go so fast?

Okay, focus, Lorraine. I mean, Lindsay.

I got the first flag. My team cheers.

Time to get the second. Yes! Got that too.

Say, who's driving?

I look. No...it can't be. Not Possibly Cody!

No, Lindsay. Cody's gone home. You're 200% sure of that.

It's not Cody. Stop thinking about him.

"You just missed a flag, Lindsiot!" Heather yells at me.

Uh-oh. She's right. I did. How do I go back?

"And you missed another one!" she screams.

"No!" I cry.

"Just get the last one and I might think about not killing you!"

Okay, the last one. Where is it?

Hey, what's this stick doing in the mud? I better pick it up. Poor stick. It must have been abandoned.

"And Lindsay finishes the challenge with three flags!" Chris announces.

"Wheeee!" I squeal as I go past the checkered line.

"In order for the Bass to win, Ezekiel needs to get four or more."

 **Heather's POV**

"Hello there, my new bitch," I greet Ezekiel as he positions himself on the water-ski.

"Eh?" he responds in confusion.

"You'll find out soon," I smirk.

I start up the buggy, and the home-schooled kid screams his head off as he's dragged through the mud. We've got this in the bag.

"Got it!" he exclaims as he grabs the first flag. Shit.

"Come on, Zeke! We need this!" I hear Geoff cheer from the side-lines.

Two flags. Three.

Please don't make me go to my last resort.

Phew, he missed flag number four.

Maybe this…and he got the last flag.

Great. Here goes…

"Hey Zeke!" I yell as I turn to face him. "How do you like these!?"

I casually take off my top, revealing my two exposed breasts.

Most of the contestants gasp at this – the girls in shock, and the guys in amusement.

But Zeke is totally stunned. He lets go of the water-ski and is sent flying through the air, dropping all the flags in the process.

I turn back to the steering levers, pull my top back on, and cross the finish line with the cord drooped behind.

"I'm gonna get arrested for this," Chris chuckles as he faces the camera with his hand over his eyes. "Oh wait, we're in Canada. Never mind."

"Don't make me throw up!" I shout at him.

"Whatever," Chris shrugs. "The winners of immunity and the hot showers are…the Screaming Gophers!"

I let out a cheer, as do the rest of my teammates, when I spot Courtney running over to Zeke, who landed belly-down.

"Are you alright? Talk to me, Zeke!" she cries as she kneels down beside him.

"Is he okay?" Sadie asks as she rushes over with the rest of the team.

Zeke lifts his head, but as soon as he turns to Courtney he lets out a whimper and runs off.

Wow, I didn't think he'd react that badly. But hey, sabotage is sabotage.

 **Noah's POV**

I have a walk by myself through the forest, not caring at all about the dozens of things that could pop out at any second and seriously injure me.

I did it. I made the merge. Do I deserve it? No, not really. But there's no turning back now.

It's such a nice summer day. These days I barely ever take time to appreciate the joys of nature. Mainly because Emma and I lived in a high-rise apartment in Vancouver.

What could possibly…oof!

I'm knocked to the ground by a pale looking blob.

"Ouch!" I exclaim as I get back up. "Dude, you got mud on my shirt."

"Oh, sorry," Ezekiel says sheepishly with his hands behind his back. He's still shirtless and has a couple of cuts on his chest. "Shoot, that did not just happen."

"You flying in the air for 10 metres? Yep, that happened," I smirk, folding my arms.

"Not that!" Zeke groans, putting his hands to his toque. "Heather…she…she…I saw…"

"You saw her boobs?"

The boy lets out a squeak as he pulls his hat over his face.

"And why does this bother you?"

"Because…I saw a girl naked. Outside of marriage. We're not even dating," he whimpers.

"Oh my God, are you serious right now?" I sigh, rolling my eyes. "Zeke, how many times do we have to tell you? You were raised by crazy people. Seeing a girl naked is not a big deal. What is this, 1950?"

"It's not?"

"No!"

"Have you seen a girl naked?" Zeke asks.

My face goes bright red.

"Well…yes…but…" I stammer. "It's not something I like to talk about."

"Alright. I understand, eh," Zeke replies. "See you later."

He walks off, and I sit under a tree and bow my head.

That question brought back so many awful memories. I don't like to admit to it, but before I met Emma I hooked up with fans several times. It's not something I'm proud of, but I was in a pretty bad state in the years after World Tour.

My love life was pretty much non-existent at that point, and I became obsessed with scrolling through pages of fan site comments. Girls calling me hot and handsome and wishing I was their boyfriend.

So one day I private messaged one of the girls. Flora was her name. This gorgeous Hispanic girl. She had silky black hair and the perfect tan. I sent her photographs to prove that I was really Noah, and we got talking. And things escalated from there. By the end of the night she'd sent pictures of her boobs and her genitals, and I sent a few back in return. I was living in Edmonton at the time, and I went to meet her in Calgary for a weekend. I took her back to my hotel room, and we went all the way.

I had no idea what I was doing, but it didn't really matter. She was willing to take it slow, and let me learn along the way.

The next morning she told me she had to leave because her girlfriend kept texting to know where she was. I said that if I'd known about her, I would have invited her too, and she laughed, gave me a kiss on the cheek, and left.

But my quest for sex was far from over. Over the next two years I talked to at least 50 girls from various social media platforms. I met eleven of them in real life, and hit a home run every time. I'm pretty sure they were all over 18 but I had no real way of verifying and I was too laser-focused on the good stuff to care. I can't even remember any of their names.

Except the last one.

Karina.

This crazy girl who emigrated to Canada from Latvia. She was pretty enough. Had nice eyes and an even nicer bust. Or so I thought.

I met her at a café in Richmond. She was B-cup at best. A mix of Photoshop and camera trickery.

But I decided to brush it off, horny bastard I was, and we went back to her place.

Her room was lined with Total Drama posters, and there was a shrine of me in her closet that she was very proud to show off. Should have been another red flag, but again, guess who didn't care.

We had sex. Nothing memorable about it. I fell asleep shortly after climax.

But I woke up the next day and, no kidding, I was tied to her bed-post with rope, still naked I may add, and there was duct tape over my mouth. She went on about how I was her new pet and she couldn't let me leave.

She left her apartment to go to work and I was stuck in there all day with no food or water. Karina came back in the evening and started stroking my arms and legs repeatedly. It didn't take long for her roommate to figure what was going on, so she called the police, and they came to the apartment and arrested her. She was deported back to Latvia and she got sent to prison. I can't remember how long the sentence was,

Also they also interrogated me while I was in a t-shirt and underwear. I actually lied at first and said that she kidnapped me on the street, but I wasn't able to get the story straight so I told them the truth. I got threatened with a fine but they ended up dropping it because they determined I wasn't in a good state at the time.

I hope I never get interrogated again. It's fucking terrifying.

"Hey buddy," Owen greets as he spots me sitting under the tree. "I've been looking all over for you. Busy thinking about the game?"

"No. Karina," I shudder.

"Oh God," Owen says in concern.

Karina is the only girl that Owen knows about. The national news reported on that incident. I can't even tell him about my shameless encounters.

"Listen, we're having a hot tub party to celebrate our victory. Wanna join?" he asks.

"Isn't the hot tub outside the Bass cabin?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

"The Bass cabin?" Owen repeats. "Don't you mean…"

He leans up close to me and whispers, "…the boys' cabin?"

I let out an amused laugh. "Alright, I'm in."

 **Harold's POV**

Okay, this is it. Time to make my big power move. I may not have got enough votes last time, but tonight will be it.

I spot Sadie walk out of the washrooms, so I fix my collar and stroll over.

"What's up, Sadie?" I greet. She still stinks but that doesn't matter right now.

"Oh, hi Harold," she says nervously.

"I take it you're worried about the vote," I say. "I mean, you've almost been eliminated so many times."

"Uh-huh," she replies.

"So, I was wondering if you'd like to join me in voting off Courtney," I ask. "I've already got Ezekiel on my side, so we could have the majority."

"Ezekiel?" Sadie repeats.

"Yeah. Is there a problem with that?" Harold asks.

"Well…" Sadie says hesitantly. "Harold, I don't know how to tell you this but…Ezekiel's in an alliance with me. And Courtney."

"What!?" I gasp. "But he said he'd vote with me. And he's voting with Courtney? Oh…that TRAITOR! He's so gonna get it!"

I stomp off. Ezekiel is so going home tonight. Hopefully Courtney and Sadie have the sense to vote with me.

 **Courtney's POV**

My heart is thumping. I can't believe it. I'm actually going to make the merge of Total Drama Island. Sure, Harold will probably vote for me again, but I have the majority on my side. What could go wrong?

I spent about half-an-hour looking for Ezekiel, but he was nowhere to be found. I need a break.

"Courtney!" Sadie calls out as she runs over to the Dock of Shame, where I'm sitting. I'm immediately blasted with the smell of old socks.

"Sadie, you gave me a fright. What's going on?" I ask.

"H-Harold…Z-Zeke," she pants.

"Woah, woah, take your time," I say, shaking my palms.

Sadie takes a moment to catch her breath, then she clears her throat, "I just ran into Harold, and he asked me if I would vote for you."

"No surprises there," I shrug.

"But get this," Sadie continues. "He said that Ezekiel was voting for you too."

"What!?" I gasp. "No, that's impossible. He's on our side. He's been on our side for weeks."

"I know but…well, I don't know. Harold seemed genuinely angry. Zeke could have been playing two sides," Sadie suggests. "Oh my God, all this time I thought you were the one playing me and Zeke, but it looks like…"

"We can't jump to conclusions. This could be a misunderstanding. And this game is fuelled by misunderstandings," I tell her.

"It could make sense," Sadie says. "I mean, for better or for worse, he did manipulate us into getting along."

"True," I nod, then I let out a groan, "Oh no, I just remembered something."

"What?"

"You know how I almost drowned today?" I ask.

"Yeah, and Heather saved you," Sadie replies.

"Well, she only saved me because…"I let out a moan. "…I agreed to vote with her in the merge."

Sadie gasps, "Courtney!"

"Yes, I know," I groan. "But I'm a woman of my word. I have no choice."

"Do I have to vote with her too?" Sadie asks.

"Well…she somehow knew that me and Zeke were allied, so she said he had to vote with her," I explain. "But she mustn't know about you, because you weren't mentioned."

"Oh," Sadie says. "I don't know. I mean, I want to help you, but I also don't want Heather to get far."

"I understand," I sigh. "But if you do decide to vote with us, you should tell Heather so she doesn't target you."

"Okay," Sadie replies as she scratches her head. "So what are we going to do tonight?"

 **Ezekiel's POV**

I sigh to myself as I tie the laces on my boots.

I just had a nice, long shower. I hoped it would cleanse me of the horrible sight that fell before my eyes, but I don't think it worked.

I approach the door of the washroom. Maybe some fresh air will do me good. And I need to face Courtney and Sadie again, just to double check how we're voting.

I take a deep breath as I step outside. It's a warm day. A nice breeze blows against my face. Maybe I can…

"YOU!" I hear a faint yell. Some figure with red hair is pointing straight at me. Oh no. What does he want?

"You backstabber!" Harold screams at me as he storms over.

What?

"I had a conversation with Sadie," he growls. "She said that you're in an alliance with her and Courtney."

Uh-oh.

"Courtney? Seriously? How could you do this!?" he continues to shout.

"Well…see…" I begin to stammer.

"You're a two-faced liar! You really thought you could get away with playing different sides? You're going down! See you at elimination."

He lets out a scoff, and then he stomps away.

What? What the… how did this…

And now I'm running back to the forest.

 **Geoff's POV**

Now it's time for the last elimination ceremony before the merge.

I do not feel confident at all. The team got rid of Eva last time, and out of the people left, I'm the standout threat.

I was going to try and convince some people to spare me, but I couldn't find anyone after the challenge. The only person I saw was Courtney, and I didn't bother approaching her because I was planning on voting her. She's the next biggest threat, so it's worth a shot.

The results will be announced any minute. We're just waiting for Ezekiel to show up.

"Found him," Chef announces as he comes over with Home-school tucked under his right arm. He drops him on the ground and shouts, "Sit down boy!"

Zeke scrambles to his feet and sits on one of the stumps at the back.

"Alright, now we can start!" Chris says brightly. "As you know, if you do not receive a marshmallow, you will be forced to walk the Dock of Shame and you can never, ever return to camp."

No need to rub in.

I tighten my fists as he picks up the first two marshmallows.

"Sadie and Geoff, you're safe!"

"Woah-what!?" I exclaim. I got through! I made it!

How did I…I made the merge!

The two of us get up and claim our treats.

"Courtney, you're safe too."

The CIT smiles as she also walks over.

"Okay, that leaves Harold, who failed to do much damage against Lindsay in the mud-ski."

Harold doesn't seem worried at all. He just folds his arms and smirks.

"And Ezekiel, who had an epic fail when he saw Heather's unmentionables."

The boy lets out a groan as he hangs his head in shame.

"The final marshmallow goes to…"

…

"Ezekiel."

His mouth drops wide open when he hears his name.

"What? This is a joke, right?" Harold protests. "You let that backstabber through instead of me?"

"Backstabber?" I repeat in surprise.

"Yeah, you got a problem with it?" Courtney smirks as she folds her arms. "I know you tried to get me eliminated."

"And for that I apologise," Harold replies. "But you're making a huge mistake. You're letting through a traitor."

"A traitor? To who?" Ezekiel speaks up.

"You were in two alliances at once. That's dirty play," Harold remarks.

"I never joined your alliance. And I've been voting with Courtney and Sadie since the camping challenge."

"But…but you said…"

"Dude, you lost. Now shut up!" Chris exclaims, bringing a hand to his face.

"I'm telling the truth!" Harold screams as Chef drags him away. "I'm a victim in Ezekiel's game! And you guys are next!"

Chef throws him onto the Boat of Losers, and he sails away.

I turn to face the other three.

"Let me get this straight," I say. "You three are in an alliance?"

"Well, I'm not so sure now," Courtney says angrily, glaring at Ezekiel. "You have a lot of explaining to do, Zeke."

"But I…" Ezekiel shakes his head. "Oh shoot."

He runs off, and the two girls chase after him.

That leaves me and Chris alone.

"Well?" Chris says, hands on his hips. "Ceremony's over. Get out of here."

"Oh…yeah sure," I say quickly, and I also run off.

 **Owen's POV**

We Gophers have a good laugh as we relax in the hot tub. Except Heather who is taking her sweet time in the portable showers.

"Ah, a real shower and now this? I'm in heaven," Leshawna sighs in relaxation.

"This game has been quite a ride," Trent chuckles with his arms behind his head.

Just then, we see Courtney and Sadie run over.

"Which way did he go?" I hear Sadie say, when the two of them turn to us.

"Hey! What are you doing in our hot tub!?" Courtney screams at us.

"That…is a good question," I laugh nervously.

"What are you gonna do about it?" Lindsay remarks, sticking out her tongue.

"Get out this instant!" Courtney screams.

"Make us!" Noah yells back.

Courtney runs to the nearest tree, breaks off a large branch, and then comes charging back.

The rest of us immediately leap out of the tub and run off.

"Get back here, you cowards! You asked for a fight!" Courtney roars, chasing after us.

I look back and notice Noah lagging behind. Courtney is sure to catch up.

"I got you, buddy," I say, running back and throwing him over my shoulder.

"To the boys' bathroom!" Noah declares.

"I'm on board with that plan," Trent adds, also running in our direction.

 **Sadie's POV**

I split my sides with laughter as I watch Courtney run off into the distance. I can still hear her screeching.

"I'm still behind you! You're not getting away with this!"

Nice, a whole hot tub to myself. I go up the steps and kick off my shoes.

Time to get rid of the stink.

* * *

 **Votes –**

 **Harold (3) – Courtney, Ezekiel, Sadie**

 **Ezekiel (1) – Harold**

 **Courtney (1) – Geoff**

 **Remaining Screaming Gophers: Heather, Leshawna, Lindsay, Noah, Owen, Trent**

 **Remaining Killer Bass: Courtney, Ezekiel, Geoff, Sadie**

 **And Harold leaves. The second contestant to get eliminated in the same episode as canon**

 **I got some criticism for my portrayal of Harold in this fic, and I will admit it was a pretty negative portrayal. In his past life he was a sad loser who still lived at home and didn't go to a good college, and within the game he basically just annoyed other characters – especially Ezekiel.**

 **So yeah, after two years, we've reached the end of the pre-merge. And as of typing, this story has 110 reviews, making it my most reviewed fic. It took 5 years for "Euro-Drama Roadtrip" to be surpassed!**

 **As always, please fav and follow if you haven't already and reviewed are always appreciated. (By the way, I've started a new thing where I don't read the reviews of the last chapter until I've finished the next. I find it encourages me more).**


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